


Riko Slyver Book Two - H/i/stœrical

by lupin5th



Series: The Untouchables: School Years [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Gen, Harry is still Harry, Ron is still Ron, a few other students start in 91, also: Slytherin does not equal Evil, if you keep in mind the books are Harrys pov und thus a subjective view, most people are still their selves I´d say, nor is any other house Evil, only not exactly Book 2 - OC viewpoint and all that, people being people - this is usually how things happen, so the focus is not Voldy and his opposition, sort of canon compliant up to the end of book 3, subjectivity is a thing to be aware of, yes - this is written from a subjective view too, yes this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-14
Updated: 2017-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-26 08:16:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 220,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6231043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lupin5th/pseuds/lupin5th
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Her summer was busy, yes, but on her return to Hogwarts things get only worse. Riko is not keen to keep her secret while knowing her friends’, she IS going to tell them, asap. But for now there are about a thousand things more relevant, that need active dealing-with.<br/>Someone is being an increasing bother, attacking the castles’ residents and framing Slytherin; Amy is bound to be on the perpetrators list of targets even without her manebrained menace of a friend being who they are; Edie needs to be kept safe despite her monthly satellite state; Vi’s family needs an eye kept on them; and she can hardly ignore her own house now, ey? That’s all things that need solutions, unlike her done-with past, and they ARE working against the clock here. And WHY are people such fucking morons anyway, apparently since always, and FUCK YOU BINNS.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Obliged Holidays

**Author's Note:**

> This being my personal, AU-ish headcanon (in the sense of: wouldn’t it be cool if..) this story assimilated some things from writers that impressed me over quite a damn while. Those people are obviously credited and I also asked them, because that is just polite. I will point out relevant parts in the respective chapters, but in general I want to give credit in alphabetical order to:
> 
> copperbadge, whose Stealing Harry and Cartographer's Craft had pieces assimilated, never mind how brilliant all the rest of his works is.  
> guernica, whose Knight Errant Chronicles integrated the fae/faeries into the Potterverse in a way that’s just lovely and well-thought-out. Her decription of their customs, magic, etc is what I integrated here. Most relevant to mention is the spell Obscurantis, which is used throughout and of her design.  
> potionpen is a brilliant builder of actual characters and source of brilliant worldbuilding. Our views on the principle of subjectivity and how things make sense overlap so much I couldn't not mention it. Any cases of direct influence shall be noted.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holidays are not a bother as such, specially not interesting ones, but some circumstances can make even generally interesting things a bit.. less than restful, is all, which ought not to be the point of holidays, seriously..

Riko spent the first part of her first ever summer holidays looking forward to the day she’d get to leave the Malfoy Mansion behind and fly to Japan to meet her uncle. Not to say that her time at Malfeasant was unpleasant, as such, it was just not very restful to constantly be on guard.

The stay itself started out as pleasant as it could, given the circumstances. Both Narcissa, Lady of Malfoy, and Draco, the only heir of the main family even if he was just her housemate in Riko’s head, were still up when she arrived in the big main foyer, only a step behind her spellfather, the Lord of the Manor. Riko was rather embarrassed by then, and not just about stumbling and almost falling as she exited the Floo, but the present Malfoys took it all very much in stride.

It was considered an aristocracy-thing, Riko knew, to remain collected and, if warranted, gracious and polite no matter what. Never mind that this exact game was played by all sorts of entirely different folk, too. Either way, it was very welcome and in Draco’s case seriously impressive; he was, for once, the very picture of courteous, no trace of his usual smugness or superiority. Riko could learn a lot there, had to actually. She could count her lucky stars Professor Snape had let her get away after her complete fail over the Philosopher’s stone back at Hogwarts. All the more reason to train it while here, use the opportunity presented, and also learn more on if not adopting then at least catching and properly reading the fine points of etiquette, the different sets of signs and expectancies. Nothing more deadly than what you weren’t aware of, after all.

Meanwhile Lady Malfoy had stood from her ornate seat by the small reading-table and warmly clasped Riko’s hand, welcoming her to the estate Malfeasant. She looked perfectly regal, the very definition of classic beauty: hair of pale, burnished gold flowing down her back from a loose yet artful up-sweep, eyes a fine, corn-flower blue, set off beautifully by her light robes of mild sky-blue; in her whole figure, the lines of her face and body, she was the picture of patrician perfection.

Riko was proud of her own ability to react with at least a half-fitting display of courtesy in the face of such a sight and the accompanying grace. Lady Malfoy hadn’t just ignored Riko’s embarrassing entrance, you’d have thought they were old acquaintances, not the slightest hesitation or second glance at her uncommon looks. Not even Lord Malfoy could claim that distinction, even if he’d had reason and been rather good about it, too. After the year she’d had Riko appreciated it all the more, so, yet more reason to not offend this lady.

Mind, she’d survived a full year in Slytherin, watching and learning some basics had been mandatory, and she knew enough humorous stories about courtly manners and how it was always better to bow a bit to deep. Combined with her blend of travellers courtesy, observed smattering of traditional local manners, and warm humour it seemed to win her some points with the Lady of the Manor.

Draco was a bit stiff at first, but he looked rather done in, too, so Riko felt she couldn’t really hold it against him. Besides, she had after all never mentioned that his father was also her spellfather, so it was alright for him to be a bit hacked off. She apologized, first with a look and then properly, in and between words, as soon as they were around the first corner of the corridor, after Lord Malfoy had told him to show her to her guest-room. He waved it away magnanimously, but Riko knew Draco well enough to know she better be reasonably accommodating for a few days. Not that he’d hold a grudge after she’d apologized already, but it would take a while for him to get used to it, simple as that. It probably also worked in her favour that she was looking ready to keel over, and Riko was so tired she wasn’t above using that little bit in her favour.

As soon as Draco had left her in her room, or rather quarters, also known as the Sea Room, Riko checked the hung paintings, put a warning ward on the doors, the windows, and her luggage and dropped straight into bed. Korra was already there, head under a wing, perched on a pretty ornamental light fixture. When Riko woke up it was, well, first after her stupid dream, of course, but after that, equally unpleasantly, from the wards on her luggage going off.

They weren’t loud, of course, but it was still damn unpleasant to be startled from a comfortable doze by what amounted to a sort of electric shock straight to the brain. It made her jerk all-over, painfully banging her shin against one of the bedposts, then hastily sit up with a string of very colourful imagery dropping from her mouth. Then, because if a morning decided to be unpleasant it wanted to do it with style, Riko actually fell off the bed. Apparently she’d moved and turned so much during the second half of the night to make this a valid possibility. Considering the enormous size of the bed this was ridiculous and didn’t improving her mood in the slightest.

The startled squeak from near her luggage didn’t do anything for that, either. Cutting back on the cursing with an effort, Riko rose with a groan. She drew herself up on the bed to get a better view only to see a small, towel-clad form cowering beside her massive trunk. A youngish-looking house elf, wringing her hands, her large, bat-like ears drawn close to her head in fright and her tennis-ball sized brown eyes wide and tremulous.

“..the hell?” Riko mumbled, mostly to herself, and stared, tiredly drawing her free hand back through her hair.

The house elf stared back and there was a moment of tense silence; then the little creature drew a nervous breath and, still wringing her hands, spoke, or rather squeaked, in a high, pitiful voice.

“Miss spellchild Kaminariko Slyver.. please excuse, please, Cecile only want to lay out clothes and make bathroom ready and..”

“Please calm down a’ready, a’right..” Riko sighed. The high-pitched voice was threatening to give her a headache and the fearful look made her feel bad just for waking up, which was just not ok, on so many levels.

The elf, well, Cecile obviously, fell silent but looked even more fearful now. Riko suppressed another sigh and looked at the heavy, artful silver clock on the bedside table. It was just around half-nine. How she had managed to sleep that long she didn’t know, well, didn’t want to think on too much, just now. Riko turned back to the, to Cecile and took a few steps towards her, sitting down in front of her to let them see eye-to-eye and doing her best to ignore the fearful way the elf twitched back. She took care to let her hands rest lightly by her side, as non-threatening as she could.

“A’right, listen up Cecile. It’s real nice of you and all, but I’m not very keen on anyone, even helpful house elves, handling my stuff. So if you could leave my trunk and rucksack alone, I’d really appreciate it. I’m pretty good at looking after my own stuff and if I need anything I hope I can try and call on you. ’Sides, I don’t even know exactly how long I’ll be staying, so perhaps I won’t have to bother you at all.”

Riko had hoped that would be the end of it, she’d after all been pretty damn clear, but Cecile drew into herself and kept wringing her hands, looking very much like she wanted to object but didn’t dare to talk. What the bloody..

“Well, now what? For a conversation with you I need you to actually talk to me, y’know. I don’t bite, so just speak up if there’s anything you want to say, a’right? We’ll never get anywhere, otherwise!”

Riko worked up an encouraging smile, leaning back on her hands after rubbing her eyes, digging to find her usual streak of amusement at absurd situations. Ah, yup, there it was, thank the gods for waking up properly. Well, more or less, anyway.

Cecile gave her a grave nod and even tried on a very tremulous smile. Well, it was some sort of progress, at least. “Cecile is to be looking after the Miss spellchild Kaminariko Slyver and act as maid as needed and such, by order of the Lord and the Lady. Cecile has to do properly!”

Riko couldn’t stop a short smile, both at the odd-sounding title Cecile had bestowed her with and the very idea she was supposed to have a maid. Apparently amusement at the absurd would be something of a fixture, here, however long she’d have to stay. Though she’d probably better not let it show around her hosts, now that she thought of it, stars and shadows, she better get a proper grip on her house persona right fast. At Cecile’s expectant look, Riko gave an agreeable nod, after all she didn’t know what the Lord and Lady of the Manor might be asking the elf about their guest, later. And it wasn’t paranoia when there were people out to get you, so there.

“Alright, I understand, you want to do your duties properly, that’s very good of you. Tell you what, I’ll see how long I’ll be staying here and depending on that I’ll put out the things I might reasonably need in the time and you can do your thing with them, whatever you like. Just don’t overdo it, I don’t want to keep you from any other things you have to do and get you in trouble, get it?’

Again, Cecile gave a grave nod. “Yes, Miss spellchild Kaminariko Slyver. Can Cecile now have things for today, to make ready?”

Repeated exposure obviously didn’t help with the amusement at absurd stuff, Riko thought absently as she worked to keep a straight face. Clearing her throat and shooting the Cecile a friendly smile, she moved to her trunk and pulled her wand out to tap it while she removed the ward. No need to announce her ability to do that one without a wand, really.

She dug out her small bag of toiletry, which really held nothing more than a tooth-brush, tooth-paste, a hairbrush and a bar of herbal soap. There were some wash clothes between her books, and some towels, and Riko pulled out one of each and then dug around for a set of fresh, sufficiently well-tailored clothes. As soon as the first bit was out on the floor Cecile went into action, disappearing with each single item into the attached bathroom. After she’d again closed her trunk, and warded it, because she wasn’t paranoid, simply cautious, Riko saw Cecile was patiently holding the door to the bathroom open for her.

“Er, thank you Cecile. Just one more thing, could you please just call me Riko? After all, the other thing is, well, sort of long and such, yeah?”

The little elf again nodded gravely, she really was a very serious little thing. It made Riko want to cheer her up, just like with Vi and her occasional grave moods. Well, she’d get there yet, surely.

She had after all even managed to make her head of house, the certifiably most snarky teacher in all of Hogwarts, the dread Potions Master Professor Snape laugh his head off. Riko had admittedly not managed such a thing with the most chronically serious, probably entirely humour-impaired McGonagall, but that was something else entirely. For one, the head of house Gryffindor was damn unlikely to find anything a Slytherin student did humorous, even on the best of days. And besides, it had been only her first year and she hadn’t really made it a priority so far, what with all the far more important projects she’d had over the course of it. Riko made a mental note to put it on her list for next year. Then she was distracted from her wandering thoughts by Cecile’s high voice.

“Yes Miss sp.. Miss Riko. Will it be alright to call you Miss Slyver, if I, that is, if there is anything while, that is, with the Lord and the Lady?”

The nervous look that came with the question was disconcerting, just like the obvious fear Cecile had shown her before. It rubbed Riko entirely the wrong way. But there was no point in taking it out on Cecile and she couldn’t very well just up and accuse her hosts of anything, either.

Well, it was just another reminder that Lord Malfoy, and thus his entire family, wasn’t to be taken lightly. Riko’d do well to keep it in mind so perhaps it was a good thing to have such active help in remembering it. And even if she couldn’t really change anything about it, as such, she could at least treat Cecile right.

“Yeah, sure, I’m sure you’ll know best which of the two to call me when. Now, thank you for your help, but I’m pretty sure I can manage on my from here, so how about you go and take it easy somewhere, alright?”

Another grave nod. Bloody seriousness. “Yes, Miss Riko. Cecile will be making the bed fresh and do easy-taking things and clean Miss Riko’s old clothes and be back in the evening when Miss Riko knows how long she will be staying and put out her things. Cecile will leave the luggage alone and make sure it is left alone and the room is nice and..”

“Err, yes, thanks, that’s very, ah, good of you. Just, remember about not getting into trouble, alright?” Riko interrupted the breathless, squeaky voice, in hopes of taking a warm shower soon and cutting back a little on the factor of absurdity, still quite unnerved by the entire situation.

Another grave nod - damnit all, this was just vexing and disturbing all in one - and with another squeaky “Yes, Miss Riko!” Cecile, at last, departed in a small puff of smoke. Shaking her head, and sparing a friendly rude gesture for the mocking caw Korra just had to comment with, Riko wandered into the bathroom, entirely on auto-pilot until she was about to shower.

After a moment of thought and absurd consternation, there were already soaps, towels and wash clothes _here_ _–_ thick, fluffy-looking and seagreen, with pretty, froth-like embroidery, _s_ _eriously_ _–_ she left her clothes in a very visible spot while she took a very hot and then very cold shower, to wake up properly. She didn’t care to have them spirited off before she could empty her pockets, after all. Admittedly, there was nothing incriminating in them, right now. Riko’d made sure anything that might get her into legal trouble was in her trunk’s most hidden compartment before she stepped out of the train yesterday, and luckily so, considering how she’d spent the evening. Still, that was no reason to let the contents of her pockets be handled by, well, anyone who wasn’t she, herself. Just on principle, really.

So far, even if he had invited Riko as his guest, there was absolutely no reason to treat her stay at her spellfather’s estate as anything else than a high-stakes mission, be it in the vein of Shizuka-sensei or Eliria-sensei. It would also, of course, be training in the great art of fooling people politely and without any harm coming off it, but Riko simply couldn’t afford to let anything go awry while she was here. She better keep up the glamour on the trunk lock, and she would of course continue to leave her two kunai fangs and other knives, except her socially acceptable pocket knife, in her trunk, just like the lockpicks and blanks she usually kept in her pockets. She was a guest, after all, and it was only polite. Riko would’ve done that even if she wasn’t worried about Lord Malfoys potential knowledge of fae magic and the disturbing possibility of him looking through the Obscurantis on her equipment.

After all, everything except her fangs was easily hidden in a pocket, shoe or sleeve and the fangs themselves had their own shadowy protection, making their sheaths very hard to notice even when they weren’t hidden under at least one layer of clothes. Riko was sure even Headmaster Dumbledore, sharp-eyed and able to see through Obscurantis as he was, hadn’t noticed them. The idea of him noticing and then tolerating one, much less two blades like that in the hands of a student not in house Gryffindor was literally nil; considering that she was Slytherin it was simply laughable. Well, it might even be nil if the student was a Gryffindor. Perhaps. Maybe even if it was Potter. Possibly. It was different from an invisibility cloak, after all, more obviously dangerous.

None of this was going to help with Riko’s paranoia, though, constantly being aware of her missing equipment. Perhaps it meant she had come to rely too much on the presence of her weapons to make herself feel safe, which could certainly be interpreted as a sort of weakness. But then, there was after all good reason for her to have them.. with an annoyed hiss Riko put it forcibly out of her mind. No use in letting it weight on her thoughts, she couldn’t afford to be distracted. Unless at school, where she had the cover of other students, this was going to take far more effort to spin. Well, she’d just have to learn to deal with it, there’d be situations when she had to do without again, so she better learn to cope, now.

Thus, taking a measured breath, Riko settled herself firmly in a ready-for-anything state of mind, drew back her shoulders and answered the shy knock on the door. It was, of course, another house elf. Even as she pleasantly greeted the little fellow in his pillowcase clothes, Riko gave an inward smile at the absurdity of the idea of any Malfoy ever giving a knock, much less a shy one. As she followed Lyall to the Sun Room for breakfast (round ten? Breakfast, really?), Riko eyed covertly around, just taking it all in and noting the way everything around her proudly displayed its high worth. The way was by no means short, so the house, or mansion rather, was really big. She’d have to find a way to explore, discreetly, she was already itching with curiosity.

After all, the Malfoys had been around since the time of William the Conqueror, but what Riko’d seen so far looked very much Baroque in its style and opulence. Then they reached the Sun Room, aptly named, that one, and stunning, with the wrought iron and glass creating a very inviting space of light. It just begged to be explored properly, climbing those playful arches, but, err, company. Breakfast. Guest.

Breakfast was an opulent, drawn-out affair, interesting, delicious and exhausting, not to mention peppered with short bouts of entirely nerve-wrecking stress.

Easiest to handle was Druella Malfoy, Lord Malfoy’s mother. Riko wasn’t sure if that meant she should still be addressed as Lady Malfoy but after less than two minutes she’d decided that no, that dried up mummy should henceforth be called Madam Malfoy, at best. If she really had to. After she’d been introduced and remarked, first thing, on Riko’s ‘peculiar eyes’, it was hardly worth a thought to react with her usual aplomb and pretend she’d just been complimented. This was after all not the first time some tool tried to make an issue of her colouring and Riko would be damned before she pretend not to be proud of her win in the genetic lottery.

It showed very much the difference to Lady Malfoy, who had insisted on being called Narcissa and was thus very much Lady Narcissa now. Then the wriggling of the cueroscope reminded her from whom she’d got it. It would be complete folly to assume Lord Malfoy didn’t have one, too, k’so! As she sat down and watched with oblique interest Lord Malfoy’s subtle warning aimed at his mother to leave her alone, damn impressive but no time to ruminate on it now, Riko took a deep breath and shot the other two occupants, Lady Malfoy and Draco, a sunny smile. It calmed her somewhat and she gathered her wits.

She usually refrained from outright lying anyway, preferring literally true statements, and from what she had learned about the little detector in her last year of using it to get a good picture of her housemates, literal truth didn’t trigger it. Alright. Of course she didn’t know just how much leeway in regards of this went unnoticed, so she’d have to err on the side of caution for now. Riko made a mental note to test this some time, though the particulars of how and such would be a challenge. But no time to dwell on it now. As the meal began and polite conversation started up, Riko had to force herself to try and enjoy the pleasant aspects of the scene, which was mostly just the delicious meal and aesthetic.

Usually this was the easy part for her, but then, usually she didn’t have to worry about all four aspects: people, location, words and customs. Here, she had to keep it all in check: every single person on the table, every single word said, every little aspect of manners in regards to etiquette and, though enormously pretty, this was not exactly safe or even neutral territory, either. Just fantastic. And Lord Malfoy wasn’t above using his family members as pawns in this game, either. After a polite wait over very well-made scrambled eggs and bacon with fresh greens and freshly pressed orange juice he seemed only too pleased to let Draco inquire in his usual, unsubtle way, just what had happened yesterday and was going on in general. But then, she _ha_ _d_ used her spellfather and his influence as a fall-back, so Riko had to call it only fair.

“Eh, seems some pasty weed in the department for magical law enforcement has an unhealthy interest in the Slyver family and tried to use me as a foothold,” Riko smiled vaguely and made a throw-away gesture as if this was no big deal.

It wasn’t, after all, as she’d got out of it, and Riko had a feeling Lord Malfoy would make very sure that had been the last of it. He’d seemed ready to end something, yesterday, be it a life or a career. She let a spark of her satisfaction show in another smile, aimed at both her spellfather and then Draco.

“Y’know I was going to go straight to Japan by aeroplane – which clearly didn’t work out. And since I wasn’t keen on giving them a chance to take me as hostage just because they were stubborn, I asked my spellfather for help in the matter. Again, apologies for the inconvenience.”

Riko made sure to include the entire table in her apology, even the tight-faced Madam Malfoy, though her main addressee was of course Lord Malfoy. He answered her smile with one of his own, real amusement shining in his cutting grey eyes as he made a dismissive gesture.

“Oh, please, not that again. I thought I told you yesterday I was glad, both to be of assistance and have a chance to invite you properly, at last.”

His casually airy voice, the way he lightly raised one eyebrow, slightly mocking and imperious at the same time, in combination with his words it gave Riko a rather clear picture of what he wanted. He had told her yesterday he’d make the most of it, and this was his ever-so-subtle reminder. Fantastic. Well, she’d resigned herself to dealing with it well, time to live up to it.

“Well, then I’m glad of it, too.” She gave him a small nod and a droll smile. “I do hope I’m not inconveniencing any of your plans, though. Draco mentioned looking forward to visiting some relations in France over the holidays.”

She’d deal with it, yes, but it didn’t mean she’d just give up. Riko saw real amusement in Lord Malfoys short smirk as he acknowledged the fact.

“Oh, not to worry. I still have some matters to arrange before I can retreat to enjoy my summer leave. I expect we’ll be leaving here the 7th, earliest,” he gave a slightly put upon sigh at that, as if those matters were just one more, tedious thing a Lord had to deal with. Then, with a look of completely innocent worry, if one ignored the way his eyes crinkled slightly with a hidden smirk, he added, “But I hope your own plans weren’t inconvenienced too much by that silly matter of yesterday. Is there perhaps someone who should be notified, so as not to worry them? Draco mentioned you were looking forward to meeting your family again, and I admit to some curiosity about your holidays plans.”

Well, great. Of course he wasn’t going to let her back out of it easily. Riko silently and elaborately cursed her lack of knowledge in regards to the cueroscope as she slipped into quicktime to come up with a good, appropriate reply, glad for the edge even if it was damn tiring. But no matter from what point or angle she looked at it, if she wanted to err on the side of caution there wasn’t any two ways about it. Damn.

“Oh, not to worry about informing anyone, I had that taken care of already,” she smiled distractedly, hoping he’d let it slide. Not because it was anything less than true, but because it contained absolutely no details. Best continue quickly. “I’m set to meet with my uncle on the 7th and I’d planned on looking up a few friends before that.”

“I see. So your friends won’t worry if you don’t show up today, that’s a relief. Have you already made any new plans?”

Riko didn’t need to see the cheerfully smug look as the edges of his mouth curved in a fleeting smile. She knew she’d pretty much lost, already.

“Not as such,” she concurred as gracefully as possible, ruthlessly suppressing a sigh. She thought she did well enough, she’d already been more or less resigned to something like this, anyway. And, she reminded herself sternly, it was only a fair trade, after all, in exchange for her continued freedom. “I’ll have to be in Japan by the 5th, at the latest, to make it in time to meet my uncle, but other than that I’m free to plan my own time.”

 _Yeah, right_ , commented a dry voice in the back of her mind, reminding her strongly of Vi for a painful moment of missing her friend. Ruthlessly, Riko suppressed a wince at the thought and focussed on her relaxed, if slightly dry, smile. Judging from his short smirk, Lord Malfoy caught the hint of irony, too. At least he was a graceful victor, as he gave her a smile that even reached his eyes, the pale grey warming with the entertainment dancing in them.

“Well, that’s settled then. You’ll stay here until then and I’ll see about an appropriate portkey. No matter how useful it is in not being traced, I dare say I can do just as much, and spare you the indignity of using some obscure muggle apparatus to travel.”

And that was that, no point in arguing any more. Draco was drawn back into the conversation then, and more or less tasked with showing her around and entertaining her. Lady Malfoy inquired about potential particularities as regards to food and if the Sea Room was to her liking and was generally politely, gracefully curious, making Riko glad when conversation strayed to matters of the past school year. It her let gradually relaxed, at least a little. There was still, of course, the occasional comment by Madam Malfoy, be it about her peculiar hair or her peculiar name or whatever else the woman could think of finding peculiar. Riko grew to seriously dislike the word.

At least she could hope that her easy-going, picture-book good-natured reaction to matters regarding her own peculiarities might soon discourage the woman, as was usually the case in such situations. Besides, once you’d commented on hair being white, or short, or tousled, or on eyes and their split irises being uncommon, there was little point in repeating it over and over. Well, unless you were content to play a dotty old woman, _moh_ , how tiresome.

But Riko had over the last year got quite enough practice in explaining the use of Asian characters in names and how they could be spoken differently and other particulars of her name in such a manner as to make the recipient look a complete tool while staying well in polite territory and she had absolutely no compunction about letting loose against the dried old mummy that exuded such stuffiness over breakfast. It seemed no one on the table minded it, either, which gave Riko another bit of insight in the social mechanics of the Manor. Luckily, there were enough interesting things to keep occupied, too. Draco proudly showed her around afterwards, first inside and then, once they got outside, he insisted on broomsticks.

Admittedly, the grounds were pretty damn big, but it was rather obvious he’d just wanted someone to fly around with. Riko’s lack of a broomstick of her own and her persistent wariness against the things didn’t exactly endear the fact to her, but Draco was persistent and she was a guest so she resigned herself to making it a regular fixture of her stay. And it was his birthday tomorrow, so there were bound to be enough guests to use as social cover, while she scouted the waters properly.

(Oh yes, there were, Loki’s dancing hoopskirts! And now Riko owed Tony a proper gift for her birthday too. Not that Cera had said so and never mind her officially not being around for it in August but.. Tony. As opposed to Draco, who she’d of course planned for, and King Cobra _had_ made sure there wasn’t a someone who didn’t know his birthday, and who he was going to invite, and what he was going to get his parents get him, in _detail_.)

At least there was less need to guard your tongue while you were racing around the air on a broomstick. Also, the broomsticks at Malfeasant were by far less scruffy and suspicious-looking than the old Hogwarts school brooms and Riko did appreciate the way she could just ask a few questions on the subject and cause Draco to hold forth in every kind of detail about the specs of the different models. Once he got started, especially on certain subjects, there was just no shutting him up. It was part of the reason he’d been the first of their year to be named after his snake, which always had Riko stifle a grin. For various reasons.

At the time Draco had raised his head, much like his namesake, and although he had managed to keep a look of gratified expectancy on his face, his eyes had got rather round. Much like the round pupils of his namesake it had given him a surprised look, if you were close enough to see it. Which Riko had been, and Tony, too, which was about half of the other reasons it was so funny. Gods and spirits, that look! Draco had been wise enough to let her win that match of Slytherin’s Wizard Chess and the next, too, and then suggested they work on their Transfigs homework again. That had been a smart move, not just because Tony was better than him in the subject but also because of the incomprehensible content and Professor McGonagall. Overly stern and serious, head of their main rival house and also Deputy Headmistress, pretty much the epitome of ‘the Man’ so to speak, she gave an excellent common enemy. Fantastic distraction material, typically Gryffindor that.

Riko used much the same tactic during her stay at Malfeasant. Appreciating the lavish estate worked well but had to be tempered carefully to not invite unasked-for offers or come across as either fawning or overly impressed (even if the Abraxans were impressive alright). Conclusively on the top of the list in subjects were brooms, Quidditch and certain other subjects rooted in Hogwarts. It was really quite useful, she just had to make sure to avoid other certain subjects that were also rooted in Hogwarts. For example, McGonagall was always good for a rant and had the bonus that Draco and Riko agreed she was a right terror.

The pitfall, however, was the high chance of Draco going off topic and starting to complain about ‘that damn Granger’ and her goody-two-shoes, mane-brained ways and how every professor, especially McGonagall, was favouring her and so on. Since Riko had adopted Amy as not just a friend but family, the real sort of family, this made for awkward conversation whenever it came up. At least when it came to Headmaster Dumbledore or the famous Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived-despite-his-insanity, or the rather, well, arbitrary way house Gryffindor had won the house cup, Riko didn’t have to worry about how to disagree in the politest way possible.

Even so, Riko thought Lord Malfoy probably learned quite a lot about her in her stay at the Manor, be it about her alliances or how she handled certain situations. It left her feeling ill at ease, at times, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it. Be it in conversations about her close friends, who were, none of them, with her in Slytherin, or completely unimportant matters, such as house Quidditch, Riko didn’t miss how her spellfather filed away her every comment and reaction carefully and deliberately. It made her feel rather justified in doing the same thing, even if she knew the situation was stacked against her.

He didn’t seem to mind, at least, and apparently conceded her the right to manage her own personal affairs as she saw fit. Sometimes he even seemed amused, in a certain detached way. But still, Riko couldn’t help but feel paranoid at the way he seemed to catalogue so many of her views and probably even parts of her own, personal code while she didn’t even dare ask what snake had been his namesake.

One of those cases was an evenings entirely innocent discussion of Quidditch and whether it’d be a good idea to try and join the Slytherin team if one liked Flying. Draco had teased her about trying out for Chaser next year, now that she had gotten more comfortable on a broom, and Riko had immediately declined. Of course that would drew questions from her housemate. Riko knew Draco absolutely loved Flying, and he was damn good at it, too, but she suspected he just hoped to convince her so he’d have an ally in the team, as he planned on becoming Seeker. Because Potter was the Gryff Seeker, she was a hundred percent sure. From his flying at school and here he seemed to have more fun playing Chaser but, well, he and his thing with Potter.

None of that was good to voice, though, for various reasons of civility and giving too much away on her views, just like her personal doubts about either of them being a good fit in the current team or even being allowed to join, so she’d just tried to be politely uninterested.

“Well, for one, it’d just take up too much of my time. I rather like being free to read up on and try out any little thing that catches my fancy, ’s not like the standard curriculum is all that entertaining, after all,” she shot him an easy smile, and Draco grinned sharply.

“Yeah, right,” he drawled, “admit it, that’s just your way of telling me you’re already looking forward to starting the next great prank war!”

Riko had to suppress a sigh at that. The subject had come up before, and she was not comfortable at all with the insights Lord Malfoy had surely gained from her inability to deny that it had all started with two older Gryffindor girls, cousins of one of her best friends, too, attacking Amy, and in her friend’s own bathroom, to boot. At least he didn’t know of her initial impulse to murder them all in cold blood. Hopefully. She thought she’d covered pretty well just how damn sharp her rage in that regard still was, but the way he’d looked at her then, all calculation and oblique interest and, ah, damn it all. Concentrate!

Hoping to distract, at least a little, Riko gave a light, faux-innocent shrug and an appropriately anarchistic grin. “Well, I’m not going to deny it was a lot of fun while it lasted, or even that I have indeed a few entertaining ideas for similar situations, should they ever, theoretically, arise.” With a wink, she continued, hoping to leave this particular subject behind. “But seriously, I don’t think I’d appreciate having anything or anyone else encroach on my time. Lessons and homework do enough of that already, and besides, I don’t take directions well. Like, at all. And from Flint.. no way. I mean, you know he’s mad in all possible ways. I doubt it’d be any fun.”

Riko declared the last sentence with some finality and moved on to discuss what she felt were the problems of Slytherin’s Quidditch team and its reliance on big, hulking players. In her opinion it didn’t suit the very fast-paced sport, and she hoped for some peaceful Quidditch arguments from her housemate. And for a while it worked.

Then: “..and besides you do take directions, even from the Tartan! Honestly, if it was me she’s always harping on, I’d have told her what’s what soon enough.” Sheesh. It seemed he was really set on this Quidditch-team matter, the stubborn git!

Riko answered evenly and carefully unconcerned, with half a shrug. “That’s entirely different and you know it, too. Teachers are sort of like weather, there’s not much you can do about it, you just need to be prepared. I’m not going to make Flint any sort of weather for me, so that’s that.”

Draco heaved a sigh, but knew her well enough to leave off this particular subject for now after she’d let just a little steel slip into her voice at the last words. In revenge, however, he revived the subject of what exactly was so much more interesting than lessons and Quidditch, that she spent so much time in the library and exploring the school grounds. The whole subject was riddled with things she’d rather gnaw her foot off than discuss, so Riko had the pleasure of, again, having to slip into quicktime. It wasn’t exactly easy, after all, to come up with sufficiently generic, innocent and also honest reasons for looking up all sorts of healing charms and magical cures and dragons and general things that perhaps could be used for various types of forgery or breaking-and-entering to name just a few. Gah.

At least there were often enough visitors to be used for cover. Like Tony, who had whacked Riko over the head on her first visit and proceeded to roll her eyes at the case of unmentioned spellchild. Which, hah! _Her_ spellmother was Lady Narcissa, which the girl had neglected to mention ever, herself. And, of course, Vincent and Gregory, who were less quiet and better company than at school, and a few other relatives, older of course, like Lord Malfoy’s smarmy cousin Mezentius. Well, he wasn’t exactly a good example, but he was still far easier to steer clear of, and thus less unpleasant than the Madam.

The tiny old woman positively reeked of too much perfume and the stuffiness Riko’s Da had always mocked most about British Wizarding society. Luckily she was hardly ever around, preferring to stay in her own wing. Her own wing, Riko thought that really said it all. The rest of what she met of the Malfoy family was mostly tolerable but that dried up mummy kept on acting dotty and abrupt, constantly setting Riko’s cueroscope to wriggling on its string under her clothes, when the witch used her mask to make her disdain socially acceptable. And while Lord Malfoy had warned her off, whenever the old prune did deign to join them at a family meal, she was wont to bring up some ‘purely general’ point about pedigree and propriety and what-not.

“Oh, in my day and age we still had a proper insert-whatever“ and so on. Riko didn’t mind terribly, she took to entertaining herself by thinking up the most bland of repartees to the rather predictable comments whenever she had the time and used them as she saw fit. It made for some entertaining pauses in conversation at the meals, when varying members of the family had to school their features to not show any reaction or amusement. It wasn’t all that easy, too, because Riko knew well enough the whole house of Malfoy was quite proud of its long and remarkable ancestry and she didn’t want to insult her hosts, after all. But she had by now a right solid grip on the contents and points of _Nature’s Nobility_ and Cecile was nice enough to bring her a number of further ancestry- and history-related books from the Malfoy family library so she could forage through the thick tomes whenever she didn’t feel like going back to sleep right away after her usual damn dream.

If that dried-up mummy wanted to annoy her, well, Riko’d show her right back and have fun in the process, too! She was quietly proud of never stooping so low as to bring up the ever-so-proper Ms Malfoy never bothering to disclose just who the father of her son and current Lord of Malfoy was. But then, that would have been damn rude to her spellfather and his entire family, so it was right out, anyway. Besides, Riko thought it was probably this very fact that had enabled Lord Malfoy to see all that propriety-nonsense for the scam it really was and still keep his humour even as he had probably fought tooth and nail to become patriarch of the family. It had quite likely also made it possible for him to become friends with her father and have some good times, too.

Riko would’ve felt a complete idiot, both for using such an obvious counter-attack and acting as if she in any way agreed with the stuffy notion of a woman bearing a child without a husband being some sort of scandal. It was rather a disappointing development, Riko thought, that Madam Malfoy had lost that point of view sometime since she’d done it. One good thing, at least, came from the whole two weeks of paranoia. Well, perhaps one-and-half, as Riko did grow more used to not having her fangs on her body and devised a sufficiently innocent way to hide some of her main lockpicks on her wand-holder. But no, the main good thing about her stay at Malfeasant, beside the pleasant distractions of broomsticks and Abraxans, visitors and visits to interesting places and events, was the Malfoy family library.

It was truly magnificent, not bigger than the Hogwarts School Library, no, but here there were no restrictions to her access. As a matter of fact, Riko was sure there was a number of books here that weren’t even in the restricted section in Hogwarts. There was, of course, the small problem of privacy regarding her research subjects, but the solution was easy enough. What with her waking at least once every night anyway, Riko felt entirely justified in carefully, silently visiting the big, magically stretched room and wandering between the enormous shelves. She was, after all, a guest, and had been invited to make use of it. There had been no mention of not using it at night and she was simply quiet because she didn’t want to disturb any of her hosts nor bother the elves. The word sneaking was entirely out of place, she was just getting ready to go to sleep again.

After the attack by Quirrelmort at the end of the term Riko had more or less regularly woken up at night, shaking. At first she hadn’t been able to recall what had woken her and it hadn’t been that often but during her stay at Malfeasant this changed. It was a fact she didn’t appreciate at all, because by then she’d already been well able to recall the dream and she could really do without it. But no, for some stupid reason, perhaps from the stress of being on guard all the time or maybe from the unfamiliar setting, whatever, during her stay at Malfeasant Riko dreamt every single bloody night without exception of that stupid attack. Sometimes even more than once. The dream was always the same.

She was back in the abandoned classroom with Quirrel and his insane head-passenger and his spell was flying straight at her. Only it wasn’t as fast and she didn’t black out as quickly, like she actually had. Instead Riko was stuck in a sort of extreme quicktime, registering everything in great detail and with far too much time on her hands, without her being able to do anything, caught in the usual slow-motion. Watching a scorching meteor of green fire flying at her with the sort of slow inevitability that might drive people insane after a while made it look bigger than she remembered the jet of green to have been.

Soon, Riko could predict the exact moment when it reached her growing sphere of anti-magic, could have drawn detailed diagrams on how exactly it just stretched the hull of the unfinished anti-magic zone instead of breaking through it and discussed any number of potential implications, had anyone been around to talk to and she able to do anything at all. The thing that really made her wish for some Dreamless Sleep potions, however, was the actual, damned slow-motion impact. It wasn’t just the cackling green energy, from the painful feeling almost electrical in its composure, as it crashed ever so slowly into her chest. It was the cursed trail of deformed, unstable anti-magic that followed it, dragged along by the green blast.

Riko knew she was almost through once she got to the part where it drove ice-cold spikes of anti-magic into her as she was hit, the rest of it settling on her like tatters of a fine, icy veil, but that didn’t really make it any easier. Yes, there was still the unsettling bit of flying ever-so-slowly backwards and the count of numerous, painful collisions as she crashed into the stacked chairs and desks and wall. But none of it was near as disturbing as the frightening cold that settled in her limbs and guts and breast and head, actually making her ache for the green, because fire and energy she could work with, but this cold was eating her alive, stealing her breath and weighting her down, making her lose all connection to her body before at long last it also stole her sight, sending her tumbling into dead darkness.

In short, it sucked. Riko wasn’t sure if it was real memories or just her dreams making up shit, but it was damn unpleasant, either way. Unlike other dreams, where she was aware and could act, kinda turning them into a game of can-I-do-that, she couldn’t do anything at all. She knew it was a dream, she absolutely knew it, but she couldn’t even wake herself up. It made Riko glad none of the Malfoys were early risers, allowing her to keep dozing while the sun was already up. There was no way in hell she’d ask her hosts for the potion and she’d looked it up and regretfully had to admit it was not something easily brewed up in a guest-room. Even without the constant risk of a nosy portrait or her helpful, friendly personal house elf maid Cecile popping in.

It was oddly disconcerting to have the such a small, nervous, willing-to-serve creature look after her. The house elves in Hogwarts were happy to just keep everything working behind the scenes and Riko was sure they would never bow and curtsy to the students like the Malfoy house elves did. The Malfoys seemed to find this normal, however, so Riko kept quiet and concentrated on being inconspicuously courteous to whatever elf was doing the serving.

If anyone noticed her tendency to tire easily or her fondness of the occasional nap in the warm sun, they either didn’t comment or chalked it up to her slow recovery after _The Incident_. Riko was immeasurably glad that at least this subject was avoided by absolutely everyone. She was even more glad that she’d got away without being questioned just what spell the spirit of Voldemort had used against her, the subject all but closed as soon as she’d finished saying his name.

The most feared Dark Lord of the current age, so much in fact that he was often referred to as _the_ Dark Lord and people were still loath to speak his name, had been “vanquished” in the year of ’81 by a one-year-old Harry Potter, thus known as the Boy Who Lived. He had also, from what little Riko had learned so far, been quite thoroughly unhinged and forced Lord Malfoy into his service for a while. It didn’t stop Lord Malfoy or any of his family from using his name, though, in the absolutely singular case of mention. Well, no Slytherin would ever be caught calling that menace You-Know-Who, that was just.. pitiful, really, even more so when he was all vanquished. Of course it also wasn’t surprising that his return as a discorporated spirit that liked to seek refuge in the backside of people’s heads wasn’t a matter anyone liked to discuss.

All the better, really. Riko had absolutely no desire for anyone, least of all the very sharp and calculating Lord Malfoy, or any of his family, to take an interest in just how she’d managed to survive the supposedly unblockable, unsurviveable Avada Kedavra. No good could come of it. The local wand-based magic, stuffy and complicated as it was, was quite enough to deal with, Riko really didn’t want to give them any bright ideas that might unbalance their working system and incidentally also lose her some of her much-needed edge and advantages.


	2. Personal Affairs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coming home is different for different people, isn’t it, and even if it is restful and nice, and helpful to get on top of yourself and your head again, sometimes you only need very little of it, before you’re ready to strike out again..

On July the 5 th  Riko woke very early. Well, actually she never went back to sleep after her regular, unpleasant dream, but it had been after midnight by then so it counted as waking early, clearly. She’d already made sure she hadn’t forgotten anything, checking both her trunk and her rucksack twice before going to sleep, so she used the remaining time for one last stealthy visit to the Malfoy family library.

About a week ago she’d found mention in one very old and, judging from the rest of its contents, probably Officially Dark tome, that werewolves of most kinds supposedly didn’t react badly to animals, only to people. By now she had unearthed two more mentions of this phenomenon in other books, which was, well, something. Definitely the most helpful information on the subject she had found so far. She’d also found, at last, mentions of historical attempts to produce a cure. The described practices and results also explained quite clearly why they had never found anything on the matter in the Hogwarts Library Register. Urgh. Riko really didn’t want to think on it in any sort of connection with Edie, no way, no thanks, just no.

Anyway, it clearly said in the side-notes on Rome and its history that it was possible for sufficiently clever or strong animals to calm even the possession-variant of werewolves. Classical werewolves, people who were able to change into a wolf because they were somehow spiritually close enough to being wolves themselves, counted as animals for that. So did apparently people turned into animals, whether they did it themselves or not. It was something to work with.

Now the next logical step was to confirm this and research how to turn someone into an animal or become a classical werewolf. Unfortunately, while werewolves as such was a rather contained subject to research, specially with the help of a friendly elf, this next logical step was not. There was very little helpful info on what to research, exactly, in the few passages in the werewolf-books. It was frustrating, like taking one step forward and three back. And neither Amy nor Vi were able to help. Amy was staying with her muggle parents and busy reconnecting with them and didn’t have much chance to visit even the Main Library of Magic in Diagon Alley. And in about a week she and her parents would leave for a three-week holiday, driving to France and Spain, where she’d probably have a blast but it wouldn’t do any good regarding their research.

With Vi the problem was entirely different. Firstly, Riko had to be very careful what to write, as Vi had warned them of her post being monitored by her family. They’d made up a number of code-words and phrases beforehand, but that only went so far, and Riko didn’t want to chance Vi’s family catching on they were sending hidden messages, after all. Additionally, the annual Duelling Tournament was set to be on the 8 th  of August, and Vi, who was set on becoming the best shot of them all, was busy training like crazy. She’d said she’d be training with her mother, who had been champion ten years running and also travelled a lot before officially retiring.

Riko had some qualms about that, about the entire situation, really, but there was nothing she could do. Well, she could worry, a lot, about the very few, terse messages she received from her friend, and she did so, whenever she felt she could afford some distraction from her other pressing worries.  There was after all the matter of keeping secret that her parents were currently not alive and the fact of her staying with spellfather who was by any definition of the word a very dangerous man with a damn sharp family and whom Riko felt she could only trust as long as he didn’t see an exploitable weakness.

Then there was the fact that her other friend was a werewolf, who would be in so much trouble if anyone ever found out because this dratted, stuffy society in its entire, enormous idiocy had decided that werewolves were Dark Creatures, forbidden to learn magic and whatever else.  And then there was the fact that in just about a week said friend would have to, again, turn into a slobbering monster bent on tearing itself apart and that none of them could be there to help her because Edie was too damn stubborn to be believable. And Riko still hadn’t found a decent way to actually help. It was maddening.

Well, at least she’d come up with one helpful bit. Riko had the recipe of the Polyjuice Potion hidden deep in the most chaotic recesses of her trunk, three coded copies scattered about her belongings for security sake. The Potions was, like probably most useful things, Officially Dark and would turn you into someone else for a while.  At long bloody last they had a way to hide Edie’s monthly absences. Ever since they found out, Riko’d gone almost mad with worry of someone catching on to the very regular intervals of Edie falling ill. The biggest problem was that the Ravenclaw entryways were able to see through glamours, so they hadn’t been to able to masquerade as their friend and give her an alibi for the nights of the full moon. But no more! Perhaps they could even use it for..

Riko jerked up as she felt her head nod and noticed the light already boldly slinking up the edge of the sky. Huh, seemed she’d drifted off after all, better return to her room and take a decent shower to get up and running. It’d be both embarrassing and completely unacceptable to mess up now, on her day of leaving, after all the trouble she’d gone through already.

Her last day, well, half-day, as a guest went fine, thank all the gods and spirits. Riko knew Lord Malfoy noticed her distraction and perhaps even recognized her underlying nervousness during the lavish breakfast, but he didn’t comment and she was glad for it. After a cheerful goodbye to Draco, a courtly bow and courteous farewell to the Lady Malfoy and a polite, perfunctory bow and farewell to Madam Malfoy they went off through the Floo.  Gringotts was, unfortunately, not hooked up to the net, so they travelled to Lord Malfoys roomy and well-furnished office in the Ministry. From there it was a relatively short, if labyrinthine, way up to Diagon Alley and the goblin-run Wizarding Bank. Riko appreciated the tour and her spellfather’s extensive commentary, allowing her to remain mostly quiet.

When they at least reached the great white marble building of Gringotts Lord Malfoy immediately attracted a bowing goblin that led them to a side door in the hall. Riko was both relieved and tense like a bowstring. You’re not in the clear, not yet, it kept screaming in her head. Sometimes she really wished she weren’t right quite as often

“Now, I hope you don’t mind terribly my insistence on the portkey. I’m sure there was reasons for your choice of travel by muggle transport, but I assure you this one is entirely off the record,” Lord Malfoy gave her a very obliging smile indeed as he held out the item the goblin had handed him.

Riko had to slip into quicktime and work to keep her face under control. The massive, beautiful cloak-pin, in all likeliness silver, depicted a coiled serpent with sapphires of an intense blue set in for eyes. Clearly worth quite a lot, for the craftsmanship alone. Just how many obligations to him did he want to saddle her with?! She gave one blink, keeping a politely surprised face despite her messy inner seething, adding some puzzlement for good measure.

“I’m much obliged, spellfather! I do appreciate your efforts in the matter, but really, you didn’t have to trouble yourself so much over it. I can take care quite well of myself, really!” She smiled warmly, letting some of her embarrassment show, before adding with a sly smirk and wink. “I’ll be sure and send you Korra back with the pin, I’m sure it’d look very fitting on your Lady.”

Riko didn’t know what exactly she had expected in reaction to her admittedly cavalier answer, even if she’d tried to inject as much as gratitude into her tone as possible. It certainly hadn’t been this. She was still in quicktime so she had the dubious benefit of being able to catalogue it in every detail. Riko wasn’t quite sure when she’d last felt that much adrenaline in her system. Probably in that damn abandoned classroom. Because there it was again, that utterly cutting, calculating look, piercing her from eyes of coldest silver. It reminded her with a visceral shock of the time he’d asked her who better to introduce her into society than him, the same measure of ruthless intent revealed in his gaze. At the time it had been a warning, unuttered but very clear nonetheless, of trying to cheat him, in case she wasn’t who she claimed. Now.. well, Riko wasn’t even quite sure.

It was only there for the shortest fraction of a moment, but it was enough to give her white hair, well, if it wasn’t already. Bright excitement, her instinctive response to just about any challenge, flashed through her like a live current. Then, though his look lost none of its sharpness, it became less deadly and focussed, almost like slivers of a blade that just splintered, it’s, hah, slivers glittering cold silver in the light.  His brows drew together lightly, such a rare sight to see even such a small break in the complete control he usually had over his mien. Then Lucius, Lord of Malfoy, laughed. Or rather, a sharp, surprised laugh stole out from under his control, followed by a handful more husky of carriers of mirth. He seemed, at first, about as surprised as she, then he followed it up with a more relaxed chuckle.

The sharpness receded from his look, just a little, but Riko could see very clearly the growing amusement only hid it, while anyone else might have thought it replaced. It was eerie, though she felt at least for the moment sufficiently safe with his lack of taken offence.  Riko took great care to leave her stance friendly and open, but she had to let her body move, at least a little, in reaction to the situation. It resulted in a very classical pose, one standing leg, one free leg, one hand lightly on the raised hip with the other left to hang loosely by the side. Riko didn’t kid herself that he’d not catch the way her shoulders were not properly relaxed, or the buried wariness in her own look.

It was only too obvious that he did indeed notice, even as she lightly tilted her head and let her own very real bubbling internal laughter shine through her eyes. Riko didn’t feel quite up to actual, physical laughter, but she couldn’t help the tiny, mischievous smile that stole on her face at the entire contradicting situation. It felt only fair then, given the way she’d broken his composure, to give him the next turn and he seemed to appreciate it, too, as he gave her a small nod and a sharp smile.

“You will do no such thing, dear spellchild, nor should you feel any obligation about this. I thought I’d been quite clear on that, but I see a rather familiar insistence is deeply ingrained already.”

Riko wondered a little at his short sigh and detached, almost absentminded smile, as he continued, still eyeing her closely, though now it seemed mostly designed to make sure he was understood.

“There are times to proudly refuse any sort of help or gift, and there are times when not accepting what is offered will result in even more obligation than taking it. I, myself, had need of this being pointed out to me, once, and I take some pleasure in more or less returning the favour, now.”

This time, it was definitely the quicktime that saved her hide. Without it, Riko would have certainly been completely bowled over. It wasn’t just the shock of entirely honest self-irony clearly visible on the face of the dread Lord Malfoy. It was also the words, according to her cueroscope definitely true, and he _knew_ she had it, and all the meaning they drew after them.  Riko knew, of course, that her spellfather had probably not had a very easy time of it on his way to becoming not just such a rich and powerful man but the patriarch of the renown Malfoy family. In this odd, sort-of-but-really-not-Victorian society it was a considered a weak point if your unwed mother refused to tell who the father of her child was, after all. But for him to actually say something that in any way alluded to it!

He’d probably had quite a chip on his shoulder, from his words. And from the sound of it her father had helped knock it off. The chaotic, twisted knot of emotions belonging with her parents reared up. Damn it all, there was good reason she usually kept it out of her mind! She’d decided on a course of action in the given situation and she was in control of it as far as this was in any way possible.  There was absolutely no point or reason to drag it all up, the love and pride she held for them, the painful edge of missing them so damn much and the utter, flaming rage and hatred for anything remotely associated with the ones that had attacked them. It just wouldn’t do. Viciously, Riko fought it all back down, focussing on the situation at hand. Gratitude, that was a fitting response, and surprise.

Well, both were easy enough to come by, once she’d argued it through in her head. He was after all very helpful and Riko had to admit that with the way he viewed his duty as spellfather, it would be unreasonable of her to constantly try and refuse. Especially as she had already called on his help to get out of the Ministry’s clutches. She gave him a rueful smile and nodded her head, blushing in honest embarrassment at her faux pass, resigned that he’d already registered her shock and letting him see the gratitude she owed him. The immediate satisfaction, visible in the stance of his body more than on his face, was a relief.

“Excellent, I see we understand each other,” he shot her a sharply amused look and an honest to Loki shark’s grin. Yes, indeed, Riko was afraid they understood each other’s edges much too well, at least for her comfort. But he continued, obviously there was another matter that pre-dated her outbreak of standoffishness.

“Now, before you trigger the portkey, I wanted to update you on the small matter regarding the less-than-honorable Mr. Robards, currently suspended head of the MLEP under-department. He appears to have a rather long and detailed history of taking bribes. I expect, now that it’s come out, he’ll be lucky to only be reassigned to the Department of International Magical Cooperation.”

The lazy smile at the last words lead Riko to wonder about this department or if it was perhaps some euphemism. She made a mental note to research that, too, at some later time, and gave a cautious nod. The implication that he had arranged for this development was clear enough. After all, bribery or connections in general seemed otherwise a relatively normal way of interacting with the Ministry to get it to do its job in any fashion.

“Well, that’s good to hear. Perhaps a more reasonable person will be appointed to the office.” Riko replied neutrally, tilting her head in a wordless question.

She just knew he was going to want something in return for that, even if he probably had some gain in this, himself. Probably because it was a matter related to official things while the things he expected her to accept were stuck on a personal basis. Another sharp smirk from him proved her right and also told her that he caught far too much of her reasoning, already. Damn it all.

“Yes, indeed, one can always hope. However, I think it might be good if you’d plan to err on the side of caution. For example, if you were invited to the Manor and thus in the company of Draco and my Lady Narcissa, such an unpleasant situation couldn’t possibly occur..”

He didn’t add “again” to the end of his sentence, but it was implied clearly enough. Smug bastard. Still, Riko couldn’t stop a dry smile from stealing onto her face. She wondered, in a moment of appreciation for the absurd, if this was how Vi or the others felt when Riko dragged them into yet another crazy scheme. Small wonder that Vi always had to get in at least one comment.  It gave Riko an entirely new appreciation for what her friends had to put up with, and she had to restrain herself from doing a passable impression of Vi in such a situation. Instead, she studied with some interest the effects she usually was the cause of, not the recipient. Exasperation, resignation and amusement warring with the tethers of polite conversation. It was, oddly enough, quite fun.

“I see. So you think it would be a good idea to plan on being invited.” There was really no reason to make it a question and Riko didn’t even try to stop one single eyebrow from rising or both her smile and her voice turning sunnily dry. She might as well enjoy the ride, now.

Lord Malfoy didn’t seem to mind. Indeed, he gave her a fleeting grin of perfectly anarchistic glee, gone so fast Riko almost thought she’d imagined it. “Well, I certainly plan on inviting my dear spellchild, so it can’t hurt to include it in you plans, I’d say.”

The smug drawl and his obvious glee, with no attempt to hide his fine mood were a little like looking in a trick mirror. A very twisted trick mirror, but still disturbing. Riko shoved the unhelpful thought away and concentrated on the more amusing aspects of the situation.

“Well, then,” she gave a small huff of resignation and a grin. “I suppose in that case I better do that. After all, I do appreciate my spellfather looking out for me.” she couldn’t help shooting him a droll little smile with that, and he replied in kind immediately. Now just one more thing.  “At least, seeing how I’ll be planning my summer holidays accordingly in the future, you won’t have to trouble yourself over my travel arrangements. I’d hate to inconvenience you for something I can easily take care of, after all.”

The look he shot her then, with his short grin and quiet, dry “Of course.” was very much like the looks Riko was used to from her friends, a mix of exasperation, amusement and indulgence. He’d even rolled his eyes, a little! Riko simply swam with the absurdity of it all and the two of them shared a nod with only some traces of irony involved.

Then he collected himself again and gave her a moment’s one-over, as if to make sure she hadn’t somehow lost her rucksack in the last few, heh, minutes, at most. Riko shot him a quick, light-hearted grin, almost light-headed with the feeling of having cleared the current coup. “Still got everything!”

In answer he threw her the pin and with it a swift smile. “The eyes are the trigger. Do send my regards to Jack and your family.”

Riko caught it reflexively and nodded her thanks. “I will. Thank you, again.” And with a last grateful smile and a more serious look that let him see she recognized her debt, Riko activated the portkey.

It was definitely not the most pleasant way to travel, in fact it was almost as bad as the side-along Apparition with Tonks. Riko felt as if a hook just behind her navel had been suddenly jerked irresistibly forwards. This time she concentrated on keeping her footing despite the sudden howl of wind and swirling colours.  Riko almost overbalanced when it suddenly stopped and she could move her fingers away from the blue stones. The odd, pseudo-magnetic pull they had exuded was gone and she hastily looked around herself. She was on the black stone steps of Uzumaki-Do’s branch of Gringotts, just a little to the side from the thick doors of burnished bronze. Judging from the dark sky and the still-bustling traffic, it was evening.

It was just a little unreal, to be thrown so suddenly in this very different situation and Riko had to shake herself to adjust. Before she put it in one of her inner pockets, she used a small cantrip to check the cloak pin and any potentially remaining magic on it. It was not made of silver as she’d first thought. Bloody platinum, stars and shades, the man was unhinged! Well, at least it didn’t carry any non-contained magic.  Getting her bearings, Riko set about following her roughly-made plan and headed inside to inquire for Fhuuzhako. After she’d deposited her shrunken trunk and withdrawn some money in both local currencies, mahoutsuki and muggles, she hunted for a good spot for an early, celebratory lunch. Well, a good spot for dinner, here, which meant Riko ended up at one of the many yattai-carts.

Slurping on a truly delicious bowl of kitsune udon, savouring the taste of the sweetened deep-fried tofu-pockets, it was a little like coming home. Riko slowly, painfully started to relax, letting some of the tension of the last weeks fall away. She would’ve loved nothing better than to really unwind in a hot bath and then drop into a ready made bed, but she knew better, already switching gears. She had to find where she’d sleep tonight, first. She wasn’t at Hogwarts any more, nor guest in some lavish estate. She was a free wanderer, freshly arrived and still lacking a save place to spend the night or even the recent gossip on local events. Well, at least, though the last interaction with her spellfather had been right stressful, Riko was still awake enough to travel a good ways.

She’d sort of lost eight hours by going from forenoon in London to evening here, but it didn’t feel like a real loss.  She expected to be up for just a handful hours from now, anyway, and the darkness made it much easier on her nerves. After purchasing a few packs of crackers and a decent bottle of mugicha, Riko got back to business. Obscuring herself in a deserted side-street, she jumped up the building in a few charged leaps and took out Korra’s feather. Gathering some energy and weaving it around the focus, Riko blew on it, whispering a few words to inform her companion of her next steps and plans.

Riko wondered where Korra was now, and when and where they’d meet. Her familiar had departed last evening, well, at least in Riko’s view of time, preferring to travel here by herself. As a shrine crow, even if she had been away a long time, Korra had the ability to return to her shrine from anywhere in the matter of a nights travel.  However that worked, Riko had no clue, but then she was no crow. Besides, even if she did know there was no way she’d go there again voluntarily. No way in all the hells. Impatiently, Riko shook her head and focussed on the task at hand, dispelling the useless thoughts along with the feeling of loneliness that had crept up on her.

She did of course miss her friends, but she was damn glad to be on her own at last, after two weeks of paranoia and an entire year of stress. Yep, definitely, glad and relieved. Riko took out her fangs and the rest of her equipment from her rucksack and it settled her even more, to feel the familiar weight of her weapons and equip in their rightful places. Then she could relax into the task of controlling her Ba-Quo Raven and flying in the right direction, almost straight north. The heady feel of freedom came not only from the brilliant fun of streaking through the air under her own power, but it certainly helped. It was so good to have a straight-forward task that was just enough of a challenge to be light-hearted fun. Riko couldn’t help a few whoops of joy and the fierce grin growing on her face was impossible to get rid of.

The air was balmy and humid but there was nary a cloud to be seen, the stars were brilliantly visible once you got away from the cities, and the world was good. Riko expected to need about five hours to reach the city of Fukushima, and by then it would be well into the middle of the night, which was very good. It meant any out of the way places that weren’t already occupied would remain so until dawn. It worked out without a hitch, in a big city like that it was never too hard to find a nice, suitable roof. Hardly anyone ever bothered about roofs anyway, and after she’d laid a few warning wards around her chosen place, Riko had the most restful sleep in weeks: she didn’t even have her stupid dream.

When she woke it was already a pleasant day, hot and humid, and from the glittering, drying puddles it had rained, earlier. It hadn’t seeped into her corner, though, which increased her fine mood even further. After a relaxed breakfast of crackers and mugicha, people-watching from the roof, Riko set out to procure fresh provisions and, at long bloody last, a new battery for her watch. Then, because she had an entire day to make it to the Aoi Fukujin, she simply enjoyed the freedom of being a traveller again. First, she set out at an easy pace towards Iizaka downtown for a nice, relaxing soak in a decent onsen. Gods and spirits, how she had missed this! While she let the tension drain away into the hot water, Riko used the calm surroundings to centre herself.

It was all very good to hit the ground running, but she had to deal with all the accumulated developments sooner or later. Better use the chance now, avoid wasting energy on dragging along avoidable ballast. Besides, the talk with her uncle would go much better if she had a clear head. Not that she expected trouble. Riko was very glad she could trust Uncle Kal to let her do her own thing, within reason. But this also meant she had to show him she was up to it, making it her responsibility to keep him from worrying. Professor Snape’s letter was a, hm, variable, in that regard, as she had no idea what he’d written.

But she’d deal with it when it came up, easy as that. Uncle Kal knew her and what she could deal with far better than her head of house, after all. Then, working backwards through her back-log, Riko pondered the puzzle that was her spellfather, especially in light of their last conversation. She’d never seen him act anything like it in the presence of anybody else.

Riko had seen him cold and sharp, his dangerous edges visible, she’d seen him imperious, proper, sly, suave, amused, proud, even playful, but it was always clearly separated, attuned to the situation. This odd, quicksilver mixing of cutting calculation and pure, dancing glee in their interactions was, hm, something else.  She leaned her head back, staring up at the dark wood beams and the curling swirls of mist drifting up. A thought rose along with it, letting her slide further down into the hot water until only her nose was still above the softly lapping waves. Shifting through her memories, Riko found more and more leads, pointing in one direction.

It made sense. Any situation that required his edges and mask to resolve was probably loaded enough to not be really enjoyable, whereas the more relaxed situations required him to hide this side to varying degrees. She had watched closely his interactions, after all, and it was quite obvious that while Lady Malfoy was an ally and they appreciated each other very much, they were not like her own parents or what she’d seen of Edie’s or Amy’s.  Similarly, in his interactions with Draco there was always a feeling of holding to propriety, of responsibility, although he clearly loved his son. Indeed, some of the digs she’d made in her stay, if uttered by Draco, would have drawn some rebuke or warning look. Not so with her, he’d looked perfectly amused most of the time.

Well, she wasn’t his heir, it was not his responsibility that she turn out well-behaved or proper or whatever Madam Malfoy was always nattering on about. Heh, there was that, too, of course. Riko could just imagine the tensed up old mummy endlessly drilling him on propriety, so that he become something great. It was probably like watching his own, kept-to-himself thoughts delivered by a proxy he couldn’t be expected to manage. He could show his edges around her, he knew she’d seen them, after all, and it wouldn’t cost him anything as they had no dangerous deals between them. It was probably quite rare for him to simply have fun and relax without hiding the sharper side of himself.

Riko took a deep breath, reminding herself this was only a theory. It seemed to fit, but she had to stay on her guard still. Besides, it was harmless for him, this game, but not so for her. Riko suspected if he knew of her entire situation he’d see it quite differently, insisting it was his duty to take her in, and then he would indeed be responsible for her. Blowing out slowly through her nose she closed the subject in her mind. She thought she had a reasonable idea of the mechanics of it now, of her advantages and stakes. It’d have to do. Besides, she’d managed well enough so far, no reason to doubt her ability to keep it up, as long as she stayed on her guard.

Which was not going to be a problem, not with the rest of the Malfoy family being as, well, as Malfoy as they were. Or as Slytherin, that covered the wide range far better, between the supposedly-obvious Madam (do not underestimate, you don’t know her motivations!) and the supposedly, hm, pleasantly harmless Lady Narcissa. The rest, even Mezentius, were far enough removed that she needn’t worry too much, being herself of no interest them, but Lady Narcissa, stars and shades!

By rights she should be terrified and entirely opposed to the witch, but it was just entirely impossible, as Riko just couldn’t figure her out at _all_ and that made her just fascinating. Yes, still waters and all that, but still, Lady Narcissa was, Riko had kept book, the person she had interacted most with, except Draco of course, but that was not by much, and still the woman remained a fantastic, undefined variable to her.  For one, her pleasant manners had not once triggered the cueroscope, nor had the social balm she had spread whenever Madam Malfoy had seemed about to get testy to Riko’s bland ripostes, nor had those mediations ever implied even the vaguest hint of actual reproach to Riko. And the Lady had made Riko’s stay at Malfeasant that much more pleasant in other ways, too, entertainment-wise. And, again, without any sort of censure, even veiled, or condescension.

Considering the Lady’s pedigree Riko knew this to be nothing short of amazing, the year at school had been right educational on that. And it wasn’t like Riko wasn’t lacking in customs and such, she was aware. Maybe that’s why Lady Narcissa had never made any mention on it. Still, Riko just couldn’t fathom why the witch had apparently taken her under her wing, at least a little.

Did Riko ride, she’d ask, did she fence? Only basic experience, not a problem, darling, that is the most important part, Draco could surely do with a refreshing. No comment at all on lack of proper this-or-that, no raised eyebrows on the clearly not recreational background, which, no, Riko had not bothered to imply.

Oh, and Pansy was coming with her parents after all, to that little do she had planned, surely Riko would come along to Twilfitts & Tattings, Draco really needed a new set for this, he had just grown and grown. And that one had been rather clearly timed until after the Madam had left the table, and it had been educational as well as, dare Riko say it, nice. Last year, she’d gone to Madam Malkin’s and a few other, less overpriced ones, not terribly enthused but resigned to discuss clothes. And she’d do that again, likely, later in the hols, on her own, but now she knew a lot more, yes, about fabric and styles and cuts and such, but also, more importantly, on society’s implications and interpretations of both.

And that hadn’t even been the end of it, because then Riko might have been able to interpret her behaviour as not having with crummy guests or some-such. But the Lady had encouraged them to play first wizard’s chess and then Slytherin’s wizard chess and then shogi, when Tony had come over without a do or nice weather to occupy them, and then to discuss the merits in a respectable way. As if she’d read Riko’s thoughts on learning more on the often opaque and obscure-seeming customs of Wizarding Britain’s old and uppy crust, yet without ever inferring anything of the sort. And that had not been the last staged discussion, as often as not with sides and point drawn by lottery, the game of it in the argumentation itself and then, again, in handling and toying with her review.

Always light-hearted, of course, and pleasant, and friendly. Riko was staring to suspect the Lady as incapable of being anything else in the same way Riko herself was incapable of seriousness. But of course she couldn’t be sure. And it wasn’t that the Lady Narcissa had no humour, it was all just so lightly shaded that it was very hard to see, which, well, did rather fit with her pale complexion and theme. It was probably lack of contrast, right, that made it so difficult to see the layers under the unflappable and benevolent upper veil, that would make sense?

She hadn’t batted an eye when Riko insisted on paying her purchase at Twillfitts herself, just brightly kept up her helpful commentary after Riko had ‘explained’ she could better appreciate it now. And been very tolerant of Riko’s urge to add pockets wherever possible, which had been quite an argument with the tailor. Well, he needn’t have presented her with the opportunity, then, to add them, and hide them in seams and have them bigger on the inside and everything. Hypocrite. Which you couldn’t accuse Lady Malfoy of, either. Yes, she was unfailingly cordial and polite, but she never left you in doubt if she was less than pleased. Even if she wasn’t so much _dis_ pleased as, hm, curious, perhaps? Like with those eerie, white peacocks. They were not albinos, Riko had checked, their eyes were equally pale white as everything else about them, but they reflected in certain angles of light, with different, pale colours, nothing real, ever, it was just.. creepy.

They had come up, quite literally, when Riko discovered on an early-morning walk that Lady Narcissa was not the reason breakfast was always so late. Riko had not been sneaking about, she wanted to stress that, it was just one of those nights when once was not enough for her stupid dream and she’d been trying to get comfortable in her skin again and as the shower hadn’t been enough a walk in the enormous park had seemed a fantastic idea, fresh morning air and daylight and all that. Also, creepy, colourless half-spirit birds, apparently, which had Riko do a careful retreat, which was not an actual retreat, because she wasn’t cowed by a few birds. It was just more interesting, yeah, to take a few loops, no point walking in straight lines when you didn’t have a goal, after all. Right. Which was when she met Lady Narcissa, taking a walk herself, and thus couldn’t just walk off, when a, what, not hoot, maybe a whimble, of those birds made straight for them.

They’d chatted easily on inconsequential matters so it was inevitable the strange poultry would be included in the conversation. And Riko did get it, she was not brain dead or blind after all, that white and pale was something of a theme of the family, and they were pretty enough to look at, from a distance, from behind a window, soothing, like jellyfish in a big aquarium. You just didn’t want to get close enough to properly see and hear them, never mind that they were extremely incontinent.

Riko thought she did fairly well with her chosen stance of neutral appreciation, until she noticed, by way of Lady Narcissa’s politely interested inscrutability, that she’d fallen to using, almost verbatim, words used by a certain madam in context of herself. And then she hadn’t managed to keep the realization properly buried, and it had again turned into one of those completely unreadable scenes where Lady Narcissa allowed Riko to not dig herself in further. Which was far better than the usual modus operandi of even friendly Slytherins, be it her yearmates or Lord Malfoy or her prefects or even Professor Snape, who were always ready to let her dig herself in further.

It was an important distinction, even if it was utterly inexplicable. So was Lady Narcissa, after all. Riko hated, absolutely and utterly _hated_ , to let anyone know anything about anything to do with her. Lady Narcissa’s gaze was far lighter than that of the Lord of the Manor but no less sharp for it and, worst of all, much harder to read for it. By all rights Riko should have despised the witch instead of all but idolizing her. But, well, Lady Narcissa – and also over for now, and hopefully for a good while!

Now, what else was there? Ah, yes, the Ministry, or rather the Drake family, or both, however one wanted to look at it. Riko submerged her head entirely for a few moment, legs pushing away from the stone behind her to let her come up by the other side of the small pool. Taking another deep breath, she smiled drily.

There was not much to be done, and little need besides, as it seemed Lord Malfoy was both motivated and able in that regard. She doubted he’d go so far as to actually act against the Drake family, but his influence in the Ministry would cripple any further attempts of that sort from them. Of course she couldn’t be sure he’d even dig up the real cause and trigger of the problem that had made her call on him. There was an even chance, Riko thought, but most likely it wouldn’t matter. After their attempt had failed so spectacularly as to make them lose a bought hand in the Ministry, it was unlikely the Drake family would waste further resources on her. Well, unless she gave them good reason, which Riko didn’t plan on doing.

She’d just be the entirely innocent friend of Vi, utterly uninterested in their dealings. Which would be no problem. Vi was her friend and adopted family and Riko cared precious little for whatever her friend’s stupid blood family got up to in their own time. As long as they didn’t bother any of hers Riko would be only to happy to leave them alone. Fantastic, another matter resolved. Riko relaxed against the stone with a satisfied smile. The rest of it didn’t seem to warrant much worry or work so she was free to enjoy the rest of her stay in the onsen and settle back into being a free traveller. When she left, she’d brought out the setta Anko-san had given her last year, clopping along bonelessly with a cheerful grin.

In a pleasant mood, Riko used Korra’s feather again to give her an update, ate an early lunch, and headed for the train station. She suspected she owed last night’s pleasant sleep at least in part to how exhausted she’d been after the roughly five hours of flight-spell use. She’d rather not be quite as tired for the next part of her travel, especially with the Yamabiko Shinkansen ready to take her to Morioka so much faster.  Looking out the window as the scenery flew by, Riko’s thoughts turned to Korra, again. Not that she felt lonely, as such, she had something to do look forward to, after all, so she didn’t miss her new friends all that much just then. It was just odd to be travelling without her raven, s’all. She was probably already flying over land again, having chosen the shorter router instead of following the curve of the land, via Sapporo and Hakodate. Now, where best to meet up..?

When she’d departed the train and cleared the station, Riko took a very careful look around until she caught sight of the sentry by the side of a building that was probably designed to offer both cover and a good view of arriving travellers. It was certainly perfect for it. After offering a small traditional bow with her palms pressed together, Riko introduced herself from a distance with the traditional signs for “traveller, just passing through” and took her leave. Even if she weren’t expected somewhere soon, she was not in the mood for fresh acquaintances just now, her thoughts constantly threatening to stray to her friends on another island, so far away. With a soft sigh Riko shook her head and focussed again. Obscurantis, Ba-Quo Raven, looking for the right landmarks to navigate, the right place to take a break and wait for Cora, it was all something constructive to occupy herself with.

By the time Cora arrived, Riko had taken to playing a throwing game against herself and it had started to rain, a while ago. It was still rather warm, so it didn’t bother her, but she didn’t intend to spend the night out, either. The raven arrived with more rustling of feathers than usual and was content to let Riko fawn over her for longer than usual, too. Riko didn’t ask if it was just for her own benefit or if Cora was perhaps glad of it, too, after being back there. She just fed her what would usually be a weeks supply of treats, some of them Cora’s old favourites of dried fish, freshly bought. Cora didn’t comment when Riko told her they’d head straight for the Fukujin, instead settling in the hood of her travelling cloak, clearly content to let Riko do the rest of the flying. With a wry chuckle Riko took off.

The sinking sun was throwing pretty bands of fire across the rainy sky when they at last arrived at the big ryokan, tinting everything in warm golden hues. Gin-san greeted her with his usual sly grin, calling her his megui Raiko and asking as usual if the Kurohime-sama wanted a room of her own. Cora gave back her usual cackling laugh and Riko felt frayed ends of her temper settle that she hadn’t even been aware of before. It was a nice feeling, including Gin-san’s usual teasing. He had a free room for them and after she’d paid for the full service of his domain one of his inugami retainers showed her to it, along the usual, unreasonably winded and labyrinthine corridors of warm wood and rice paper.

The evening was relaxing and pleasant, as was usual for a stay in that true, common-free ryokan, with it’s focus on being a neutral peace-ground. There were yokai customers of all kinds, mahoutsuki of all eight regions, and even a few odd characters who looked to be from the mainland, some keeping to themselves, others using the chance to trade polite conversation or play some games of luck. After a delicious dinner of fried fish with rice and a soak in the grand outdoor onsen Riko played a middling even game of dice with a trio of tanuki who were travelling with a bakaneko and a mujina, then retired. When she woke in time for a little training before breakfast, Riko felt rested in a way she hadn’t in a long time.

She didn’t have to hide any part of herself, here, didn’t have others imposing on her time, or watching her every word. She was still grinning when she hurried to the springs to clean up before going to the common room for a traditional breakfast. 

“Ah, it is so good to see the weariness of a customer lifted after just one night in my sanctuary, Rai-chan! You simply must share gossip with me, dearest, I haven’t heard anything of you in such a very long time!” Gin-san’s shining moon-eyes crinkled with humour as he sat opposite her as she ate, drawing on his traditional pipe, his massive silver beard and hair glowing.

Riko grinned, eyes trailing the smoke shapes of fishes and snakes and dogs he sent to play in the light-infused air. Cora gave a caw that managed to sound, incongruously, a bit like a tolerant snort. It was easy fun to banter with him, quickly falling back into the variant of the Tohoku-dialect she still had ingrained, somehow, despite her travels. After he rose to get back to managing his inn, Riko wandered into one of the bigger yards, enjoying the fine weather and the company of a pair of okami sisters doing katas. When Uncle Kal arrived in the late afternoon she was filthy, not just little sore, and in a brilliant mood. She was also hungry enough to cut her washing up as short as possible.

It took a little to get used to his contained manners again, but Riko hardly noticed, as she was busy telling him all the fun stories of her enterprises over the last year and finding back into using Metarikana words. She knew he thought the local magic and its users weak and convoluted, but they’d been over that already and she wanted to tell him of her achievements and the brilliant, fantastic friends she’d made. There was no way he wouldn’t appreciate them, once he got to meet them, and he would, sooner or later, so it was good to tell him all about them now. He didn’t seem to mind, in fact his eyes had that look, softer around the edges, almost relaxed, like he sometimes had just letting go of some worry. Riko interrupted her own story, about little Norbert Nox the illegal dragon, with a soft, delighted laugh. Just a year ago she probably wouldn’t have caught that, or not as easy.

“Stop worrying, already, Uncle Kal! I told you I’d manage! Now, get yourself some more sake and then I’ll tell you the rest, and then I got a letter for you, from Professor Snape.”

She gave a smug smirk at his light start, letting it morph into a delighted, light-hearted grin, and restarted her tale. He seemed to relax further after that, which just went so show, Riko thought with some amusement.

Like every year, she waited if he’d speak up about her parents, but he didn’t, so he hadn’t found anything yet. Which, well, wasn’t that surprising, he’d said it’d take a while, and it was only five years by now, just a third of what he’d estimated. Still, as always, it injected a small measure of disappointment into the evening.  Professor Snape’s letter more than made up for it, though. Her head of house had, for whatever reason, put some rather tricky wards on it. Riko was half of a mind to be insulted by it, but the entertainment it provided convinced her otherwise. It was, after all, some rather tricky, _wand-based_ warding, which was something Uncle Kal was not used to at all, and hence had some problems with.

And of course he wouldn’t let her help, either! Well, alright, Riko had to admit, with his mind for puzzles it was clear he’d not pass up the chance to solve a new one, but still, she was curious, after all! But even after he’d read it, he wouldn’t tell her what Snape had written him! It definitely qualified as annoying, even if she drew some amusement from watching his face as he read it. Professor Snape’s micro-expressions had nothing on her uncle! Besides, with how stubborn Uncle Kal was, Riko had to draw her victories and entertainment from where she could.

“He addressed the letter to me, and as I let you handle your private affairs as you see fit, I expect you to do the same.” Pft. Whatever.

They talked late into the night and when they parted the next day, Riko was handed an equally thick letter back to her head of house. She could feel the prickle of wards just from touching it and wondered absently if she should perhaps worry for her head of house. Then she remembered last evening, and then Professor Snape’s parting smirk. Nah, obviously whatever was going on was a private matter between them and she’d not interfere. Uncle Kal seemed to catch her reasoning, not like she tried to hide her innocent grin and raised eyebrow at the letter, and his answering light smirk and the mischievous glint in his eye told her she didn’t have to worry about her professors health. Well, not too much.

As she returned to the main yard, after seeing her uncle off, Riko felt again stirrings of impatience nagging at her, her thought wandering to her friends in Britain. The, well, obligation, even if that was definitely not the right word, to her uncle was fulfilled, and Riko found herself wondering what she was doing here when she had all sorts of work and research waiting back in London. Yes, she did have some friendly contacts and acquaintances here in Japan, and some in China and India and Tibet, but there seemed to be little point in trying to hunt them down for no reason at all. Perhaps Kumomaru and his pack, but other’n that...

Distractedly shoving her hair behind her ear, Riko headed for where Gin-san was sitting by the koi pond, smoking up playful shapes and forms. If anyone knew Kumomaru’s current whereabouts, even just roughly, then it was the wily innkeeper. And either way, she already had a plan forming on how to best organize her return to and stay in London..


	3. Family Matters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family tends to be a thing you can’t easily get away from, but that is not what makes it family. That tends to be different, and depends on each family, and it is nice to see pleasant forms of it, as a guest as well as self-declared family of your friends.

Considering how much she missed her friends, and counted the days, the four weeks until she at long last saw even one of them again went by very fast. According to Gin-san, Kumomaru and his pack had moved up a plane to take care of some important matter, which lead to Riko enacting her plans to get back to London as fast as possible. It was, once she’d spent a few moment’s thought on it, incredibly easy and Riko couldn’t fathom why she hadn’t thought of it much earlier. The trick was, funny enough, her father’s all-access account.

All-access meant you could access it from every Gringotts branch in the entire world through a spacefold in the labyrinthine tunnels under each Gringotts. In reverse this also meant, of course, that with a goblin inclined to steering you accordingly, you could access every Gringotts branch in the entire word from the account. No more stupid hassle with aeroplane cargo holds, coming up with reliable sources for apropriately discreet portkeys, or whatever else.

Riko sent off Korra with two letters: one to Fhuuzhako, inquiring about the matter, and one to Ilar about renting a room again. Even having come up with it, she was a little surprised at how fast it worked. In only two days everything was set up. After that, of course, it took a while to implement it all. The real, main hurdle was that the earliest time for a free room at Errol’s was the 13 th , other than that everything was done very quickly. Riko left with enough time to spare in reaching Tokyo, and while she arrived at Uzumaki-Do’s branch of Gringotts in the early evening, when she left the London branch the bank was just opening.

It was simple caution, that she glamour herself and wear her neutral travel-cloak over equally unremarkable clothes. Her trunk was still shrunk to the size of a lighter and tucked safely in a pocket. It would require only a light tap with her wand to return to his normal dimensions and she saw no reason to do that before arriving at Errol’s Pub. 

Lord Malfoy had shrunk it, as it was a tricky spell, especially if the target carried some magic of it’s own. Riko still hoped he hadn’t learned too much about it’s properties from that, though it probably didn’t matter. He’d not stoop so low as to mess with her luggage, it was more the feeling of someone knowing more about her than she liked. The note about not doing magic during the holidays had sounded ominous but Riko knew what she was doing. Firstly, a simple release-tap did not count as doing magic. Secondly, Draco had been quite proud of showing her some nifty spells and with just a little prompting helf forth on the matter. It was adorably useful, really, his ability to enjoy hearing his own voice so much.

Magical usage _was_ monitored, but only in certain high-Muggle-traffic areas, and within private homes owned by witches or wizards, parents were expected to enforce the Decree personally. The same went of course for magically shielded areas, such as the areal of and around Diagon Alley. Furthermore, if the family hired a tutor even this theoretical limitation was removed.  It was really unfair, as it meant that for example Amy wouldn’t be able, or at least allowed, to practice over the holidays, just because she was staying with her muggle parents, while Draco could do whatever he liked. But that was neither here nor there, the point was Riko knew where she could safely use her wand and where she had to be careful.

Well, her most used spells, Obscurantis and fae-glamours, her ninja-tricks and Ba-Quo Raven obviously didn’t trigger any sensors, not being wand-spells. But Riko wasn’t quite as sure about some of the wandless magic she and her friends had trained over the last year, just how similar their signatures were to certain wand-spells. They’d have to test that some time. However, there had to be something that registered the bouts of accidental magic young children showed, otherwise muggle-borns would never get their letter to attend Hogwarts. Seeing how they had based their work on recreating some of those accidental effects, Riko didn’t feel safe using them before she knew more about it all.

As she left by way of the dark, hidden Leaky Cauldron, stepping into a street full of muggles heading to work, Riko was still undecided what to do with the day until she could show up at Ilar’s door. She resolved to keep busy, preferring to adapt to the local time by keeping awake until it was evening again and just go with the flow of whatever came along. Consequently, she enjoyed a hearty English Breakfast for dinner before ambling along aimlessly at a relaxed pace, settling into cautious enjoyment of having, for all points and purposes, stepped eight hours into the past.

After hanging out with a few local kids for a while, just lazing about in the sun and smoking, Riko took off for some tea and then enjoyed an extended nap in Regents Park. It wasn’t planned, she’d thought it better to be really, seriously tired and perhaps sleep a little longer rather than chance falling back into her chain of dreams, but it turned out she needn’t have worried. After being welcomed back by Ilar with a delicious grilled chicken sandwich very much like her first ever sandwich there last year, Riko slept like a stone in the same small, cosy room as last year. It was a relief and Riko had no problem attributing it to her excellent host and accommodations.

Ilar was easy to get along with, as practical as her very short grey-and-brown hair suggested but also easygoing and humorous, her bright blue eyes often crinkled with some amusement. She always liked to tell stories about her pub, too, if there was any time to kill. Not that there was much of that. Errol’s Pub was not very big, no, not even with the space distortion (less immediately noticeable than those in the wizarding spaces Riko had visited and thus quite likely of faery make after all), but it was well liked and had enough customers to keep Ilar and Wynne, the cook, more than just a little busy.

Despite her spending little more than a month here last year, it was still a bit like coming home when Riko spent the next evening down in the pub. A few of the regulars, human and common-glamoured fae, even recognized her, greeting her with friendly nods or waves. Throwing darts and enjoying the fast-paced live music that was being played by a small folk band from the balcony made it easy to feel at home among the relaxed, light-hearted people Errol’s Pub tended to draw. The excellent food was only one more bonus, really.

From there on she kept busy without even trying to. There were letters to write and all manners of things to research, buy, and explore. Riko felt irrationally resentful and bad, both about the situation with Edie and her own reaction to it. It was just stupid, that Edie refused to let them help on the full moon while she was with her family. Surely they wouldn’t mind!  The situation with Vi didn’t get easier to handle, either, as her friends letters grew ever more sparse and terse. Another thing she couldn’t do a thing about. At least Amy seemed to be relatively alright. Well, she was worried about her friend, Harry - yes, Potter, the insane nutcase who lived - because he wouldn’t answer her letters, but comparatively, that wasn’t as bad.. Fine, Riko would, if pressed, admit that if one of her friends were the one not answering her letters she’d be there very soon, just to make sure everything was alright. But Potter wasn’t one of her friends, mostly annoying was the nicest thing Riko could say about him after the trouble he’d made for them last year, not to mention his general lack of manners. Still, Amy was so worried..

Well, Amy also thought Riko was still staying with her family in Japan, they all did. Riko hadn’t corrected their assumption because it would’ve led to questions, more exactly to questions she didn’t care to answer, about her parents and such. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her friends, there just hadn’t been time or any opportune moments to tell them everything, last year, and she certainly wouldn’t do it via letter! Besides, it wasn’t that important, really. There was nothing they could do about it, and unlike Edie Riko had it all perfectly under control and didn’t need any help. She’d tell them next year at school, when they had some time, she just needed to find an opportune moment.

Anyway, Amy was worried and Riko knew if her friend knew she was in London she’d ask her to do something. Still, Riko didn’t want to. She just knew if she went there, even just in the general vicinity of the boy who lived despite his utter insanity, something with capital S would go horribly wrong. Probably even everything with capital E. It was just entirely stupid..

In the end, Riko decided on a compromise. She wanted Amy to be able to enjoy her travels through France and Spain, after all, and also stop feeling like a complete heel, herself. She sent Korra to take a look if he was still alive or whatever. Amy was beside herself with happiness at Korra’s report that he was indeed alive and not in any danger or injured. Well, she was beside herself, at least, as she now wanted to know why he wasn’t answering her letters, but Riko kept well out of that. Not that Amy said all that much on it but Riko knew her friend well enough.

Edie, meanwhile, sent an almost equally long letter in reply to the very long one Riko had sent her around the full moon. Riko’d figured that if they couldn’t be there, they could still try to entertain her while she was lying around feeling miserable. It seemed to have cheered Edie up, at any rate, which made Riko feel better, too. The full moon was on the 14 th , only a day after Riko settled back into the small cosy room in Errol’s, and she’d sent a pack of crackers and some souvenirs along with her letter. In return she now learned that Edie and her parents would be visiting Mrs Eohyrde’s German relatives from the 18 th  on, returning late on the day of Vi’s tournament. Edie was extolling how bummed she was to not be able to see it. Amy was set to return on Lughnasadh but couldn’t come see it either, because the tickets were limited and mostly you had to rely on good connections to get one.

Incongruously, despite knowing the person who’d probably win the entire tournament, even if Riko said so, they had bad cards for getting such from that direction. Vi’s parents had already made the most of the small contingent participants were entitled to buy. It pissed Riko off all over again, even with her date of arrival back from Japan officially two days after the tournament. But there was nothing to be done about it, and Riko had enough things she could do something about, besides.

One was researching all the notes-to-self she’d made over her stay at Malfeasant, from Draco’s as-yet-unknown-and-not-mentioned other spellparent, to references of various historical events, to customs she really wanted to get a grip on. And of course the Polyjuice Potion, which was pretty advanced, far more complex than any of the Potions last year, and had a spotty history as far as categorization in the registry of Dark Magic went. In which context Riko remembered the thick letter her uncle had given her for her head of house, Professor Snape, the potions master.

After she’d sent Korra off with it, Riko started looking up anatomy and medical books, as suggested by Uncle Kal after her question on healing, and researching the ingredients of the potion in the Main Library of Magic. Besides their properties and origin and such, she had to learn that two of them, horn of bicorn and boomslang skin, were restricted, meaning she wouldn’t be able to simply buy them.  

Working around _that_ took work, glamouring, scrounging, and enquiring, round Knockturn Alley and some select few, very small and specialized apothecaries in a crooked dead-end alley off Marjin. It was interesting and showed measurable success and Riko intended to buy as much as possible as it would have to last for a school year. It was also a permanent source of distraction as it lead to her curiosity finding all sorts of reasons to visit all sorts of fascinating shops. Most of them turned out to have nothing worth buying, but it was good to know who sold what, get a lay of the land and the merchants. It was also interesting to see how differently she was treated in her disguise of a goblin, compared to the human customers.

Though Riko had little, hm, direct exposure to or contact with Japanese mahoutsuki she knew they tended some prejudices against certain kinds of yokai, but no one would ever dare to show one such foul behaviour. Best example was the oily Mr Borgin of _Borgin and Burkes_ , supposedly the go-to store for objects with unusual and powerful properties and/or history. The lanky git all but threw her out after enquiring what exactly “Mr Brasseye” was looking for. The content of his display had been mostly junk, and certainly not ancient, so he either kept his real merchandise in the back or was simply a very skilled crook. Well, probably both, and a bad-mouthed creep, to boot.

Seriously, who’d keep an enchanted, ready-to-use glass eye directly beside a hand of glory, it was disgusting. Riko might’ve shown some interest in the blooded card-game beside it, if the man hadn’t been such an ass. As it was, it gave her a reason to put the potential use of his grubby collection of evil-looking masks, bones, ropes and rusty, spiked instruments out of her mind and focus on her more scholarly projects. She had half a mind to liberate the necklace of opals that had supposedly claimed the lives of nineteen muggle owners and owl it to Auror Trainee Tonks, just on principle, but talked herself out of it. No telling what kinds of wards he might have, the air was thick with malignant power as was.

Besides, her research on improving her understanding on how a body healed itself and learning from that as base was turning out to be quite enough of a chore. Riko would’ve never imagined the simple closing of a small cut or the fading of a bruise to be so complex, relying on so many chemicals and atoms and what not. She had to resort to buying a few rather odd muggle books for some details, and combining their very dry theories with her other sources was not an easy task, either. 

It made for theoretical progress only, not like she had a chance to test if she could heal anything now, but at least it was some sort of progress. In comparison her research on becoming a classical werewolf seemed a complete waste of time and there was such a plethora of magic theories related to turning living beings into anything that it was like searching for one, only slightly different, grain of sand on a damn bloody beach.  Even with the suggestions from Amy and Edie, often obsolete before the letters reached her, Riko would have gone insane if she hadn’t had something to look forward to. Well, that and the occasional distraction, just hanging out a little with the local kids like last year.

There was after all only so long you could properly concentrate, specially if you didn’t have anyone around to bounce your ideas or distraction off of. The worst thing was the waiting though, after you’d enquired for what you needed, in various disguises, and _that_ was again distracting from slaving over heaps of books and stacks of journals. Especially with the contents being either completely theoretical or just plain convoluted and useless, at least for what you were searching. Not that any of it was easy, either, so not only was she making no actual progress, it was also damn hard work to make no progress at all.

It was only logical, really, that Riko took as many breaks as possible, just to work off some of that nervous energy and resettle her nerves and mind. Besides, it wouldn’t do to lose the lay of the land, and it was holidays, which after all were meant to rest up. Some hanging about, skateboarding and smoking or playing at caps or cards or dice was necessary, in all ways.

Jess seemed to have turned into a raging arsehole when Riko managed to catch their group again, but it was only for a while. Something about Tom and Will and Rose hanging out too much for her liking, though it turned out the main reason was trouble at home for getting caught nicking Alice Cooper’s newest CD. Once that had blown she was easy to be around again, and in the mean time Riko had good motivation to hang out with a few other groups. There were even more kids hanging round with their Gameboys than last year, which had the advantage of making even more obvious from a distance if they had a home or not.

Both groups had their own pros and cons of course, but all-in-all the latter were often better to relax with, sharper at times, yes, but also more easy-going in other ways. Once you’d done them a decent favour of course, and they were sharper about that than at-home-kids, but it was just as well, Riko thought. They appreciated sane things more, like helpful simple runes or sigils that worked to hide your presence (i.e. stuff) in, or even the entrance to, your current hideaway.

That was a permanent asset anyone could appreciate, and Riko was only too glad to show them, well, Beth mostly, and Pip, and also to be counted as good company from there-on. Sometimes they were just better company, more concerned about how to get by than in the drama of who was ‘with’ who, and how exactly ‘with’ and so on, though footie teams did trump even that, at times.  Didn’t mean she didn’t like hanging with ‘normal’ or at least normal-ish kids, they had other resources, and it was nice, listening to some wicked music, because yes, Alice Cooper wasn’t bad, alright, Jess, and Tom still had Faceless World so that when Riko got tired of Hey Stoopid she could ask him to throw it in. Didn’t always work of course, he was more likely to go for earlier albums of Cooper, but well, it was his player so that was fair enough.

Really didn’t pay to hang out too much, though, and not just because she still had research to do and illegal ingredients to buy. The more they saw of you, the more likely people were to ask you questions, actual questions, and while Riko was quite capable at evasives and flat-out-lies, she’d rather avoid either. Too much work, really, when she just wanted to relax with tolerable people. Which was the also the reason Riko didn’t try the same inconspicuous hanging-out on the wizarding side, too, as some variation of herself. Never mind the risk of having her glamour caught out, unlike on the muggle side there were just not enough people that it was safe to be just-another-person. So, yeah, solid reason to stay at it and not slack off too much.

Anyway, after arriving officially back on the 10 th  of August, Riko would spend the rest of the holidays with her friends, and she was looking forward to it like mad. For one she could never answer immediately to their letters without them starting to wonder, seeing how she was officially still in Japan, and it was driving her round the bend. It was high time she got to see them again. Well, not all of them together, but it was going to be great, nonetheless. First she’d stay with Amy a few days, then, after Edie had a chance to rest a little after the full moon on the 13 th , Riko would stay with her at the Latch. It had the great advantage that Amy would hopefully be able to convince her parents to let her visit, too.

The unlucky one in this set-up was Vi. Her parents planned to spend two weeks after the tournament in France with the family of her father. At least it wasn’t the Drake side, giving Vi some time without worrying about her rotten cousins. Then, if she did well in the tournament, Vi would try and get Riko invited to visit her. Vi had been very terse on the matter in her letters and even if they hadn’t known about her mail being monitored they wouldn’t have tried asking her about it; Vi’s family was a subject better avoided, at any time, really.

Riko knew it came down to the person Vi’s family was most likely to want something with or on. Amy had very little chance, being muggleborn, and Vi’s family a band of elitist jerks, despite their being mobsters dealing specifically with muggles. Edie was from a traditionally good, really old family, and half-muggle, even with her mother able to use Fae magic, having crafted her own word of power. Which they of course didn’t know, but the point was, Edie was unlikely to present anything that interested the Drakes, being such a clean-cut cookie as far as they knew. The last, ever-so-peculiar, thank you Madam Malfoy, heir of the Slyver family, which before their mysterious disappearance only five years ago had been one of the most influential and bat-shit-crazy high-society criminal families, that was a better sell.

Especially with the Drakes having spent the time busy encroaching into areas formerly managed by the Slyvers. Even more so, probably, with their attempt to show her what’s what by putting a bought Ministry official on her case having failed so nicely. Well, nicely was perhaps not the best word. Riko wasn’t disturbed as such, but certainly thoughtful after reading in the Daily Prophet of the supposed death-by-accident of one Gawain Robards on the way to his official, closed-door hearing regarding the matter of his taking bribes.

She was counting on Vi doing very well in the tournament, and not just because she wanted her friend to show everyone just how great she was. Riko was looking very much forward to the challenge of being invited there, getting some solid intel on the people she already despised. Not so much for their heavy-handed criminal ways but rather more for the way they obviously didn’t appreciate Vi nearly as much as her fantastic friend deserved. It’d be nice, to have get to play at polite confrontation, not having to worry quite as much as with the Malfoys, as she didn’t owe the Drakes a single bloody thing. It was a peculiar sort of anticipation that sometimes welled up, usually after receiving one of the rare letters from Vi. It had Riko sharpen her thoughts on any of the subjects that might come up, all but whetting her knives in impatience for the fight to start.

On the 8 th  Riko went to watch the tournament, of course. It hadn’t been hard to find out where to go, it was announced in the Daily Prophet, after all. Getting in was no more tricky than turning into a flitting shadow, and once she was inside it was easy enough to find a secluded corner to obscure herself again.

To avoid being run into by distracted people Riko hid up in a niche made up from the intersecting arches of iron in the airy, light-flooded hall, reminiscent of a great big old-fashioned greenhouse. As she watched the milling-about from her perch, Riko wished she could just drop by wherever Vi was probably preparing herself just now. Not that she thought her friend needed it. Vi’d ace everyone, no doubt, but Riko was sure she could do with some cheering up. With all the frantic stuffiness wafting around here she’d bet quite a lot Vi was annoyed as all hell, despite the cheerful good-luck note she’d sent her.

She certainly looked it when she showed up, tension underlying her every move as she gave a short, perfunctory bow to every opponent before trouncing them. There were four bouts à three rounds, and it was amazing to see the difference in skill level. Where Vi’s opponents were often hit with the first spell, the third at most, the delivery almost too fast to follow with the eye, the other bouts seemed to take forever, with spells flying far and wide, and two times even a participant accidentally stepping off the strip.

It was too bad Fina was not in Vi’s age-group; Riko thought it would’ve done both Vi and her cousin good, in entirely different ways, to get to it in a fair environment. But unfortunately there was no official opportunity for it. The Sparrows, too young to participate in the tournament, were allowed to ask for bouts with any Page they wanted, to give them a chance to learn, but Pages and Squires were strictly separated.

Still, it was still entertaining to see Vi give very direct but helpful advice to the very few that asked to be set against her. She didn’t go easy on them at all, but she made sure they went away with something learned. But much better was it to see her friend lose even just a little of the tension in her posture, even give a few quick, dry smiles to the younger kids. When it was clear the interesting part was over Riko forced herself to leave quickly before she did something stupid just to get rid of her own tension. It was good, of course, and settled her mind, that Vi had indeed trounced them all. It meant Riko would probably get to visit her friend.

But at the same time she couldn’t get out of her head just how insanely tense her friend’s pose had been, or how Riko knew Vi just well enough to catch the pained exhaustion underlying it. And unlike usual, such as after a full moon, Vi’s movements had an edge to it, as if she was constantly guarding against some attack.

Riko was glad of how fast the rest of the day and the next went by. What with readying everything for her arrival at Amy’s, picking up the last of the ingredients, legal and not, travelling to Uzumaki-Do with Fhuuzhako for a few more souvenirs, and trying her luck with some last research at the Library, the time just flew away. It was with some regret that Riko said goodbye to Ilar the next day, no matter how much she had, and still did look forward to seeing Amy again. Here she had her time to herself, she got on well enough with the innkeep, who obviously was rather fond of her, as she’d actually risen to see her off before it was even ten o’clock, it was practical and relaxing..

Well, there was nothing to be done about it but thank Ilar for her hospitality again, ask her to give her regards to Wynne and be on her way. As she sat in the back of a cab, Riko concentrated on switching gears again, moving from the mind-set of a free traveller to that of a kid, a student, a harmless friend of Amy. Her gear was again stored away in her trunk, but it didn’t disturb her nearly as much as when she’d been at the Malfoys. A dry smile stole on her face at the thought of comparing the peaceful, normal, and very matter-of-fact parents of her friend to anything related to the Malfoy family. Then Riko was counting out pound-notes while the driver heaved her heavy, massive, and very book-filled trunk out of the cab.

It was a good thing, really, that Amy’s dentist parents were both busy in their respective offices. Riko had thought herself prepared for the change in pace and manners, but stepping up to the small-ish, pretty house, nestled in front of its large, well-kept garden, distinct but also clearly fitted in on it’s suburban street, was like stepping into a different world again. It was no less jarring than when she’d portkeyed to Uzumaki-Do after her stay at Malfeasant, and that was saying something. Nice to not have to hit the ground running, this time.

Riko was still busy eye-balling the house when Amy opened the door. It was just so adorably Gryffindor, really, with the warm yellow panelling and the bright red roof, the red mini-roof above the red door. There was even a small, round, red-framed window in a small gable on the left side of the roof, made it look as if it was winking.

“Riko! How are you? Did you have dinner already? Did everything go alright, are you tired? I think it’s probably better to stay awake as long as you can but you can take a nap if you like, I’ll wake you! Did you get my last letter? What.. what are you grinning at now?!”

Riko couldn’t help it, really, after seeing the house, and being embraced by her friend’s arms and characteristic bout of words, something loosened in her. Moments later she was laughing so hard, she had to clutch her friend not to fall over.

After the first surprise Amy shot her a look that was reproachful for all of a second before she grinned and then joined into the laughter. She looked good, so tan it was noticeable even on her dark skin and relaxed, obviously the holidays had been fun. Her hair was as enthusiastic and bushy as ever, though none of the wild curls had managed to escape the hardy hairband Vi had given her last year. She caught Riko’s mirthful look at the house, and then her, and rolled her warm brown eyes with a smile.

“Oh, shut up, you! D’you believe I only noticed it when I came back from the train? It was always just the house, before..”

Riko grinned even more, gleeful and just a little relieved they hadn’t lost the ability to occasionally catch each others thoughts. “Well, it’s a very cute house, explains so much about you, already!”

Another eye-roll and a grin flew her way, unexpectedly improving Riko’s mood even further as Amy said “Oh, just wait till you see the inside! Now, come on help me with your monstrous trunk, not like I can make it light like last time..”

With a shared smile they headed inside. Being well used to Riko’s mix of curiosity and paranoia, Amy put the trunk to the side as soon as they’d crossed the threshold and gave her a full tour of the house. It didn’t take long, but it was very enlightening and amusing.

The entrance hall was just the right size for the four doors leading in every direction, a reasonable coat rack and the stairs leading upstairs. The door to the right, past the coat rack and before the stairs, led to a toilet very much like the one Riko had in her room at Errol’s but with a window.  The door to the left opened into a very practical and obviously well-loved kitchen, tiled with warm terracotta as was the directly attached, south-facing eating area. There were all of five big windows in the room, which spanned three outer walls, making it a bright, cheerful place.

From beside the big table a pair of white, wooden sliding doors led to the living room, also tiled under a carpet much larger than the one by the kitchen table, coloured in warm browns and orange. The design featured snakes arranged in a relaxing pattern, making Riko smile, as did the pretty grandfathers clock and the clear-cut fireplace. There was a number of shelves with books and knick-knacks, and a TV-set in a media cupboard was facing a long couch and two armchairs over a low table of wood and glass. The room was about the same size as the kitchen, Riko thought, but unlike the oblong of the kitchen with its attached eating area it was square-ish, giving it a different, cosy feel. It was almost like a very small living-cottage.

One door facing west led outside into the garden. Another, just round the corner of the first, lead to the stairs to the basement and beyond it into a small storage room without even a window. The third was two-winged and through the windows in the white wood you could see the entrance hall. After they’d complete the downstairs round, Riko was a little surprised at the upstairs. While it was pleasant enough downstairs, it was also always very clearly practical, the little quirks always tightly controlled to not break any ideas of normalcy. Best example were the very few pictures and very correctly white-washed walls.

Upstairs, even the floor was allowed more freedom, a parquet of different interlocking woods stretching over the hallway and spilling in the two bedrooms. Then there was the double-door leading into the conservatory. It was similar to the one downstairs leading to the living room, but allowed to keep the colour of its wood, and then there was the conservatory itself. Its terracotta floor had obviously seen more hard use than the one downstairs, or perhaps it was just allowed to look it. According to Amy this was where her parents kept the plants that wouldn’t survive the winter outside, otherwise using it as sort of general hobby-room. It showed, as there were all sorts of tools lying about on a few work-tables, a folded laundry rack hiding in a corner.

The bathroom spanned the space of the downstairs hallway, toilet, and storage room, and was laid with different, blue-themed tiles. Unlike downstairs, the walls were also covered in colour, giving the room an entertaining, watery feel, almost reminding her of the Slytherin dorms with their view into the lake. Combined with the warm yellow accents it was a fun room, definitely.

The bedrooms were on the east side, Amy’s facing south, and they were allowed to say quite a lot about their inhabitants. Amy only gave her a quick look inside her parents room, to show her the ladder that led to the attic, but it gave Riko a good image. The wallpapers were an unabashed dark blue with subtle patterns in lighter colours and, like the bedspread and the carpet, geometric, rectangle-prone patterns. The entire room was very practical, clearly a place to catch shut-eye and store your clothes, but unafraid of showing its personality nonetheless.

Amy’s room, however, was the best. It was the same size as the other two upstairs rooms and it was so _Amy_ Riko almost laughed out loud when her friend opened the door. There were about as many shelves of books in there as in the entire living room, and the big wardrobe was open, and obviously not used for clothes but other, more interesting things. The lockable roll-top desk was just as massive as the simple dresser that doubled as bedside table. But the thing that made Riko unable to keep a grin off her face was the sheer amount of green in the room. The upper half of the wallpaper was a light green with darker vines creeping up and down its hight, the bedspread a stronger, leafy green with yellow spirals tracing over it, and the seat of the obviously well-used chair a deep bottle green.

Amy gave a small eye-roll at Riko’s grin. “I always liked green, so sue me. It’s not like Slytherin’s cornered the market on the colour, now is it?”

Holding her hands up in a gesture of mock defeat, Riko gave a wink. “Course not! I wasn’t going to say a thing! I think it’s a brilliant room, fits you perfectly. Lucky I wear enough green then, who knows if you’d be able to stand me, otherwise?”

And it did fit perfectly to her friend, the room. The lower half of the wallpaper consisted of wood panelling with green trims. Combined with the warm wood hues of the furniture and the big, octagonal carpet with its intricate oriental patterns, it was a little like stepping into a part of Amy’s brilliant, warm and studious mind.

“Sides, I always liked green, too. It’s relaxing but still interesting..,” Riko shrugged and they shared another smile before Amy dragged her outside to show her around the garden. As promised last year on the train, it was great, in every sense of the word.

Well, it was still a muggle garden, but even so it was clear that someone, from Amy’s stories mostly her father, was very enthusiastic and knew what they were doing, too. It covered about three times the ground as the house, and was filled with fantastic places to hide or just sit and relax, not to mention the incredible number of plants.  After Amy showed her a few big patches of fluxweed, which they intended to pick for the Polyjuice Potion at the next full moon, only three days away now, they flopped down into the grass by the small pond and just talked. It was, indubitably, a very pleasant day.

In the evening, Mr Granger came home first, and after a warm greeting and helping carry Riko’s trunk upstairs he disappeared into the kitchen. Soon delicious smells were wafting trough the house and even sneaking into the garden. He’d steadfastly refused any help, so they retreated to the small terrace and played at fixing results at dices. Mrs Granger arrived only minutes before the food was finished and Riko was very impressed by her car. It was a positively ancient, adorable beetle in dark red. Over dinner Riko heard the story of how Mr Granger had invited Mrs Granger to a tour of Europe in it, when they’d been still in med-school. It had, by their enthusiastic accounts, been a very memorable tour.  In the time since it had never shown any signs of breaking down, certainly helped by the enthusiastic way Mrs Granger took care of it. She said she’d turned it into a hobby to make sure he never had the chance to develop any real problems.

“It’s all about preparation and proper maintenance, just like work in that regard, but he doesn’t complain and I don’t need an assistant to keep in the suction drain.” Amy’s parents shared a small smile then, so obviously it was some sort of dentist remark.

Over the course of the evening, Riko grew to appreciate she’d be only staying here a week, leaving on the morning of Saturday. Amy’s parents were, unsurprisingly, quite sharp and she felt she owed them for being a real, welcome guest, to not lie to their faces. It didn’t require any slipping into quicktime, but she did have to take a care what she said.

They obviously loved their daughter and were proud of her being so smart, but they seemed a little reluctant, or perhaps wary, of the entire subject of magic. It was something they couldn’t really relate to, probably, and they seemed a little unsure on how to deal with Amy’s obvious enthusiasm regarding the hidden world of witches and wizards. Perhaps they worried about losing her to this odd new world in which they saw no place for themselves. Either way, Riko quickly learned to keep to safer topics and as she only saw them in the evening and at the more hurried breakfasts it was no cause for concern. The days went by lazily, the weather mostly fine, and Amy and Riko left to amuse themselves.

Unfortunately they couldn’t start the Polyjuice Potion, as the lacewings had to be stewed for twenty-one days and they couldn’t very well take it along on the train. Amy had, of course, already finished her entire homework unlike, equally of course, Riko. She’d made notes in preparation, already, but it was some work to convince Amy that was enough for now. They had after all thick, fat letters to send to Edie to give her some entertainment while she laid about miserably, and there was so much time still, and much more entertaining things to be done.

The best way, Riko knew, was to profess a lack of knowledge about specific, entertaining muggle things. She knew her friend knew she wasn’t always completely in earnest, but Amy didn’t really seem to mind. She certainly didn’t mind showing Riko all the books and comics she’d read before becoming Hogwarts smartest witch, including the ones that had made her think herself a mutant. Their first goal for that, and Amy showing her around in general, was of course the local library. Unfortunately it didn’t have any books of Arsene Lupin, but Amy recommended her a stack of Raffles and Sherlock Holmes books, and a few James Bonds, and it was something to pass the time, admittedly.

Amy usually took the bike, and often also got something from the bakers or grocers on the way, and Riko was extremely glad to have got herself a cheap but sturdy skateboard, so she could tag along easily. She was also glad hoods were a cornerstone of all her clothes. And with her faded Tottenham Hotspurs cap she was inconspicuous enough as long as she kept some distance to the normal people around her or put a small glamour on her eyes. 

It didn’t bother her, in general, being a bit odd-looking, but she’d rather not make anyone gossip about her friend’s family and their strange guest. Usually she’d just glamour herself when out and about in public view, she had enough experience on how black hair was supposed to look that is was hardly a chore, but Amy wouldn’t appreciate the paranoia, so yeah, not going there.

Amy took a little to convince, but by the end of it, Riko had got her to try the skateboard, too, and she wasn’t even bad at all. In return Amy taught her how to ride the bike, which definitely took some getting used to. Of course they also trained and play-battled every which way, which was great fun in the garden, and watched a number of video tapes of movies and series that Amy declared to be simply brilliant and must-know whenever there was nothing decent on in the telly. When Amy’s parents went out with friends on Wednesday night the two of them stayed up in front of the telly, testing how many programs you could watch parallel without losing track. They had to hastily sneak upstairs when they heard the little beetle sputter to a halt outside and they were rather lazy next day, but it was in good fun. Amy certainly seemed entertained and Riko found it all very relaxing.

Only when she was leaving the Granger house, as it didn’t seem to have a real name, beyond the address, it occurred to her they hadn’t had any other, muggle friends over in the entire five days. It seemed a little odd, but perhaps they were all away on holidays. There hadn’t been any mention of it, though. Riko thought of how Amy had such trouble finding friends in Gryffindor last year and decided to stay away from of the whole subject. She did remember, though, how glad both her parents had seemed at King’s Cross to meet the friends of her daughter. Huh. Perhaps they did have reason to worry about losing her to this new world.

Mr Granger was driving her to Charing Cross, which was really very nice of him, as it wasn’t exactly the shortest distance, from lower Lambeth. Borough, not district, that had cost her quite a few pounds on her arrival here. He could have just delivered her to the nearest station, she’d suggested, or she could take a cab again, but he’d insisted he had to get something from a decent, proper garden store anyway and that had been that. Well, Riko wasn’t going to complain, and he _was_ Amy’s Dad. Equally typically Amy was Mrs Granger looking forward to a day of tinkering (not working, she’d insisted with a strange glee Riko was going, hm, was going to maybe ask Amy about, some time) and Amy herself of course all set to help, having a clearly not-entirely-new interest in the beetle’s metallic innards. Well, there was also another reason it was smarter, this way.

The Eohyrdes were going to Diagon today, to get the things for next year. The letter had arrived on Wednesday and the list of required stuff was just as long as the one last year. Just hours later, another owl had arrived, from the Weasleys. Harry Potter was staying with them after some sort of rescue, Riko hadn’t wanted to ask, and they were going to go on Wednesday next week, as Amy had told them her parents would be taking her then. Now, if Amy had come along today, her parents wouldn’t be taking her next week, and she wouldn’t get to meet up with her two insane Gryffindor friends.

Besides, the Untouchables, sans Vi, were hoping Amy could catch a ride with one of her parents on Monday to Charing or Mrs Eohyrde’s vet office and spend the day, flooing back in the evening to be picked up again. Riko, after listening with some interest to Mr Granger’s plans for his work on the garden, cautiously enquired in the direction. Judging from his tolerant look and mumbled “We’ll see,” she was pretty sure it would work out alright. Then she was dragging her recalcitrant trunk into the dim, dark-wood, comfy if somewhat shabby Leaky Cauldron, hurriedly greeting Tom the bartender and ignoring the usual, thin crowd of the early hour.

Grabbing some Floo-powder, she jumped straight into the green flames and in short order found herself spewed out in a heap in the entrance hall and waiting room of the Latch. Taking along a massive trunk didn’t seem to be something planned on by whoever maintained the Floo-net. Probably the Ministry, which sort of explained everything, Riko thought disgustedly as she tried to extract herself from under her luggage, grumbling some colourful phrases.

“Riko! Are you alright?! By Loki, stop cursing, you’ll give Kean ideas!”

Edie was on her in a second, still looking a bit washed out – the full moon just two days gone – but obviously fit enough to use her werewolf strength to heave the massive trunk off her. She must’ve been waiting in one of the armchairs usually used by the customers here in the waiting area. Free of her deadly luggage, Riko could now see Kean hovering to the side with a great, gleeful grin.

“Eh, yeah, ta, Edie! Sorry ’bout that..” Riko winked at the boy and Edie shot her an exasperated but indulgent look before drawing her to her feet and into a great big hug in one swift motion.

Riko hugged back, squeezing for all she was worth, glad to reassure herself of her friend being alright. When Edie let go after a few moments of very compressed ribs Riko gripped her friend’s shoulders and held her half a step away, looking her over. The coppery-blond ponytail and light amusement in her amber eyes made her looked as relaxed and easy going as ever. Alright then.

“Course I’m alright," Riko rolled her eyes, "I always am! What about you, you crazy bird-brain?!”

Yeah, alright, perhaps she still had some misgivings about Edie’s insistence on needing no help. She’d kept her tone light though and shot her friend a teasing smile, so Edie only gave her a small eye-roll and a light cuff on the shoulder.

“Course, why wouldn’t I be?”

Riko shot her a dry look at that but let it go. Edie broke into a cheerful smile as Riko and Kean greeted each other very gravely, bows and all, and then grinned like demented. ‘Oh, dear’, her look said, for a moment. Then her own grin broke through and she all but dragged Riko along with the trunk in her other hand, into the living room and from there on further, up a flight of stairs.

“We’ll be ready to go soon, Papa just had to look after the freshly hatched bihorn again. You’re staying in Lea’s room, she said to, be stupid not to, really, ’s perfect for a guest, has its own bathroom and all, don’t mind her things, she said she cleaned it up but, well..”

Lea’s room was a good bit bigger than Edie’s, commanding the entire attic of the small cottage that had once been turned into the rump of the building. Incongruously, it was clearly smaller than the living room directly below it, so it was a bit pokey, but cosily so. Lea had indeed cleaned up, only with so many things and so little place it was not easy. Every possible surface had neatly stacked books or parchments or scrolls or something other on it. To get to the small bathroom one had to step through a sort of miniature roof-tunnel, past the chimney of the living room’s fireplace, into the somewhat lower attic of the next attached cottage. Despite this it even had a bathtub and someone had decided two windows, one a gable, were better than one window and a mirror, which worked out fine. There was one on the door, anyway.

Both room and bathroom were bigger than her rooms at Errol’s Pub, and entirely hilarious and brilliant. When Riko voiced this, well, the latter anyway, Edie shot her another grin and told her how much she hoped Lea would move out already, so she could claim it her own. They descended the stairs to find Mr Eohyrde tying the last knot on a small bandage on his wrist, all but ready to go.

“Hello there, Riko, good seeing you again! Oh, not to worry, the little blighter got lucky, it’ll be scabbed over by dinnertime. Which reminds me, we should get some fresh African Sandroot at the apothecary. Now, you kids have everything? Kean, remember our agreement, yeah? Very good then, let’s not keep Lis waiting!” He winked and opened the door back to the entrance room, where Edie’s mother was just entering through the door beside the stairs, from the inner yard.

After an equally warm and short greeting, Riko was swept along with the four easy-going, light-haired people, even managing to not fall over on arriving back in the Leaky Cauldron. Once there they separated, as Mrs Eohyrde had some special book-shops to visit. They made their way to Marjin and took another turn, to find the apothecaries Mr Eohyrde was looking for. While he went in to buy a number of specialized ingredients, the three of them were looking about with great interest along the windows of the shops. Even with the moon two days gone, Edie’s nose was sensitive, which had to be the reason Mr Eohyrde had them wait outside; Riko had been here during her search for certain ingredients and the proprietor was as harmless and fair as you could get, around here.

When he came out again they traced their way back, with some stops for window-shopping and the occasional visit in an interesting second-hand shop. Upon learning that Kean’s birthday was only three days past, Riko got him a bag of crystal-blue gobstones and a set of small darts for a pittance from one of the stalls. The marbles had some small chinks, but it only made them look better, they all agreed, catching the light every which way and, alright, the darts had some weight-problems, but Riko thought she could figure it out before she left the Latch again. And if the Transfigs-part made trouble, well, Edie was right here, and Amy all but guaranteed to show up on Monday.

On the way to the big entrance of Flourish and Blotts, they took out their lists. Beside the standard selection of potion ingredients, which Mr Eohyrde had already bought along with his own purchases, they only needed some books. Well, eight books, as many as had been on the list last year. Well, new year, new books, not odd, yeah?  Yeah odd, however, was that seven of them seemed to be some sort of adventure books, all with some supposedly Dark creature in the title. Surely they weren’t going to need seven books just for Defence? Mr Eohyrde took one long look at the list and gave a sigh as he read it out loud in an almost disbelieving tone.

“Second-year students will require:

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk

Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart

Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart

Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart

Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart

Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart

Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart

Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart”

He pinched the bridge of his nose in amused exasperation, then turned to them with a very understated sort of grin.

“Alright kids, I’m giving you a choice here,” he announced, mischief lurking in his eyes. “Lis is going to be busy for a good long while yet, so if you like we’ll make a game of how many of those Lockhart books you can find second-hand.”

Then, obviously for Riko’s benefit, he added. “It’s not that we can’t afford them, but we’d have to swing by Gringotts on the way first. And really, I heard through the grapevine he’ll be teaching Defence this year, which may or may not be very well, but to make his students buy every single one of his books? They’re _novels_ , Loki’s dancing hoopskirts..”

He shook his head, seemingly torn between admiration and annoyance at the sheer gall of it. Riko grinned back easily, no stranger to wanting to preserve resources and not at all loath to hunt through more pokey little stores with all sorts of entertaining knick-knacks for a bit longer. Both Kean and Edie nodded and the game was on.

It turned out to be easy, so easy in fact they made up some additional rules. Points were awarded for how new a book looked and the entertainment value of potential inserted comments and subtracted for obvious damages and the names of the former owners in case of it being a signed copy. The last happened so often that soon a race was on to find an unsigned one. This they didn’t manage for each book, so they settled for the most entertaining, absurd and probably fake names, such as Adalbert, Polonius, and one that had Mr Eohyrde smothering laughter for quite a while, Schwanzus Longus. When they reached the meeting point, Florean Fortescue’s ice cream parlour, they had far more than the required sixteen books between them, though no more than the fourteen required for Lockhart.

They also were in a very good mood. Mrs Eohyrde was already there, looking very relaxed with her iced green tea and an open book in front of her. Riko had thought meeting “when we’re finished” might present a bit of a problem, but it seemed the Eohyrdes knew each other’s habits well enough. Looking up as they descended on her table, laughing and talking, Mrs Eohyrde gave them a big smile. While they all dug into their respective sundaes, she told them excitedly of the rare tomes she’d found and haggled a good price for, with some choice commentary on a few rude sellers who’d thought they could try and cheat what they’d thought a hapless muggle. They were some very good insults, some even usable in polite company, and Riko gleefully added them to memory.

When Mrs Eohyrde heard of their game she shot her husband a look that had him cough and assume a very innocent expression. “Eric, you really are entirely incorrigible, aren’t you?” It wasn’t really a question, and from her tone and smile being incorrigible was a very good thing indeed.

“Of course, dearest love of my heart, it’s why you married me, after all!” Mr Eohyrde warbled with a wink and showed her the copy of Travels with Trolls that had been signed for Schwanzus Longus.

Mrs Eohyrde snorted loudly and threw her napkin at him. Edie and Kean grinned widely and Riko enjoyed their strangled attempt to keep from laughing when, with a look of utter innocence, she stuck her spoon in her mouth and waggled it exaggeratedly with her tongue. When they headed for the Cauldron, Mr Eohyrde offered to go back via the village, to swing by the butchers and this evening Riko was treated to a brilliant barbecue, in regards to food, scenery and company. Then Amy was allowed to visit on Monday and they had a lot of fun, repairing Kean’s darts, tearing through the grounds and swimming in the small lake.

It also included a disturbing reminder of Edie’s problem in the form a new, fresh scar on Edie’s knee, tracing upwards onto her tight. To be still so visible it must have been a vicious wound. Riko was used to long trousers, even her jinbei shorts went a bit below the knee, so it had never occurred to her that Edie was perhaps hiding something by running around like that.

Admittedly, with the way they’d been tearing through the grounds, climbing and sliding and crawling all over the place, it might have been entirely innocent, but from Edie’s look it hadn’t been only that. Riko was so mad it was a wonder she didn’t start smoking from her ears. How could Edie tell them she was fine when she was collecting such scars? She hadn’t had a wound that bad over the entire year at school and then she went home and..

Amy, perceptive genius that she sometimes was, noticed Riko’s roiling and growing temper and distracted Kean for a while, betting who could dive farthest. There was a moment of tense silence as Edie seemed unsure if she wanted to be defensive or apologetic and Riko was busy biting her lips to not explode at her friend.

After another moment Edie settled on a strained mix, crossing her arms and biting her lips before starting in a quiet voice. “It’s nothing that bad and that usually never happens. Fritz caught the kneazle-pox last week, otherwise he’s always there, playing it up with the wolf. And there’s nothing to be done about it now, so you can just as well relax. I know what I can handle, already, and you’re not my keeper.”

It was a clear warning and Riko understood and did respect Edie’s desire to not be handled like she was some poor victim. But still. If they’d been there it wouldn’t have happened. She took a deep breath and blew it out. There was no use in arguing after the fact, that much was true, but she resolved to not be as lax and trusting next time.

“Ye might’ve said something then, y’know.” Damn it all, Edie was far too good at handling her, already.

The target of her ire gave her slightly hesitant smile, a mix of relief and knowledge of her success in her eyes. Riko just couldn’t stay mad at her, glad as she was that her friend was fine now, and in a good mood, too. Sometimes having a quick temper worked both ways, a real hassle that. This time she received an eye-roll, which really should have rubbed her the wrong way, but somehow didn’t.

“Well, we only found out later. First I noticed was that he didn’t show up in the cellar..” Edie gave a small shrug, but Riko knew it had certainly been no small matter, at the time. Perhaps her worry about the giant cat and what might have prevented him from showing up had even lead to the injury. The wolf was often a much better indicator if she was on edge than Edie herself.

“Besides, even if I had known beforehand, I really don’t know how you could’ve helped without anyone catching on.”

At that, at least, Riko could roll her eyes, countering with a dry. “Yeah, can’t have that, can we?” She knew she’d been deflected successfully, already, and held up her hands in a gesture of resigned defeat, before Edie could feel the need to reply to that. “Alright, I give, you’re fine, everything’s fine, nothing to see, moving along..”

Edie gave a small sigh at that, a mix of relief of sadness that had Riko working extra-hard on being charming and relaxed not only for the day but her remaining stay. The last thing she wanted was to be a bother for her friend, especially in regards to that matter. If only they could get it in her head that accepting help was not a bad thing!

The weather remained right brilliant for the most part of her stay and Riko enjoyed every minute of it. Edie’s family had a great way of not asking questions and Riko knew to avoid any mention of Edie’s furry problem. She also grew to appreciate Oma as a source for valuable info and great stories, not to mention her relaxed and bright personality. Riko asked all sorts of questions about fairy tales and stories on people able to turn into animals and Oma seemed to not mind discussing them in a manner that left open whether they were true or not. It was brilliant and fantastic, and so were the stories she could tell in general. That lady had been around the block and then some, alright.

What wasn’t quite as brilliant was that apparently Riko didn’t have the character to become a wolf, if you followed story logic. She was too humorous, of all things, and possibly too distractable. Pft. So much for that then. Riko wasn’t going to discount the experience of the person with first-hand knowledge, but it was not great.

Oma’s unique personality also explained Edie’s proficiency in and enjoyment of Wizarding Chess. Riko lost every single game against the old lady but enjoyed it immensely, regardless. Playing her was not about winning nor about staking out your opponent, it was all about hearing all the stories about the used manoeuvres and their history and such. It was a nice if slightly odd idea to have about chess. But then, that seemed a good way to describe all of Edie’s family, at least as far as Riko could compare. They certainly didn’t seem to find a thing about it strange, so it had to be normal for them, which might have made Riko feel right envious, if it weren’t for that thing. By which she of course meant Edie’s problem, and all it entailed in and for this brilliant, fantastic family.

Edie had told them that her family was very good about it, not treating her like a freak or poor victim, and they really were, but that didn’t mean there was no problem at all. It took Riko a while to notice, and that although Edie had already mentioned a little of it at the time.

“I don’t think they want to talk about it to me” she’d said but even so it was hard to pin down. They were just so careful, more quick to worry about her, always paying attention, not watchful of her but for her, and Riko could see how it affected Edie, too. Her friend was always sure to be not only “fine, of course”, but to really seem fine, to smile easily, to laugh, to talk calmly and confidently. It was of course much more benign attention than Riko had faced at Malfeasant, and Edie had no ill effects to worry about, but Riko knew that just the idea of her parents worrying over her was already more of an ill effect than Edie would ever tolerate.

Riko would’ve gone nuts in a fortnight, at most, and refused to think on imagined potential similarities. She hadn’t gone to stay with any of them, for valid, solid reasons, and there was no point to assume there would have been any parallels. And Edie handled it like it was nothing but a light breeze ruffling her hair. It was probably an exposure and habit thing, and the attention _was_ very clearly benign, and it was her family. And of course Edie was always glad to let others take some of that attention, be it Kean doing his puppy-impression or Riko being vocal and cheerful or Oma being settling and entertaining, or commenting from the sidelines.

Besides, like Amy, Edie could do pretty much what she liked. She wasn’t under constant scrutiny, nor under lock and key, it was no problem at all, going off for the day to wander a bit, to read at the lake, go off with Riko to do some decent training while Kean was with Oma or collect either of those for entertainment. Mr and Mrs Eohyrde were usually busy with their work, customers coming by almost constantly, or one of them out on a visit, and they trusted their kids would be safe, no trouble around, after all, and lots of ways to relax and have fun. Riko loved it, loved her entire stay there. The Latch was never boring, with all the different animal and creature patients, and their owners, and all the permanent residents, human and not.

For example the gnomes in the small side-garden by the sheep paddock, just past the bees. The jarvey didn’t like the place, mostly for the bees, so it had to be de-gnomed regularly and it was no chore to linger in the sun until you spotted one of the small leathery buggers. The best way, Riko learned, was to grab them up by their heads which could’ve doubled as potatoes, keep them at arms length so they wouldn’t kick you and then take them by the ankles. That way you could hold them upside down and given them a few decent swings before letting go. You had to make them dizzy before throwing them over the fence, otherwise they’d sneak right back to their tunnels and keep on gnawing on the roots of the plants. The good thing was they were so stupid that as soon as you started a de-gnoming, they’d all come up to watch; it made it easy to have nice competitions on who could throw them further.

Goldie, the jarvey, seemed to have a strange love-hate relationship with Fritz, but was still lots of fun to play with, if you could find her. Edie called her a giant Tourette syndrom ferret on drugs, and Riko had to admit it fit. And since the Eohyrdes were officially a magical household, Riko could at last try and make her skateboard fly. It proved.. interesting, but definitely fun, as was Kean’s fascination and glee, and he was right sharp at learning card tricks, too. Then there was the ghouls in the main and second stable, who liked to compete with odd drumming noises when they weren’t hunting for bugs and mice, and you could always play hide and ambush in the woods, and on the last weekend Edie’s parents took them to a free music festival at something called the Cissbury Ring.

It was entertaining, and new, and since Riko had learned early that her normal was not the same as most people’s, and that most people’s normal wasn’t the same either, it was easy to thoroughly enjoy it in all its fine-weather-camping and unknown-music-and-people glory. So really, it was quite obvious how Edie had been able to handle all of the madness the Untouchables had got into over the last year, and no less fantastic that she was bringing even more crazy fun into the equation, too.


	4. Friendly Reminders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what it says on the tin, more or less. Sometimes anyone needs them, and sometimes you get them even when you don´t need them, and there is nothing to say the reminder will or won’t be nice and pleasant. Edie is right to remember Riko to be good, but good, well, what does that even mean?

As pleasant as her stay at the Latch was, Riko was glad when it ended. It meant she’d at last see Vi again. Over two months had passed since her friend had helped her come up with the fallback that had saved Riko’s neck from the Ministry’s corrupt meddling, and she hadn’t been able to really thank her at all, so far, not properly. After all, Vi’s mail was monitored and it was clearly a very bad idea to thank her friend for helping her get out of the situation Vi’s parents had created in the first place. Riko knew her worries for their friend were shared by Edie and Amy, it had loomed in their midst even as they enjoyed Amy’s repeat visit on Monday.

This time she was accompanied by her parents, which had been skilfully arranged by the trio. When Riko had sent over Korra on Wednesday evening with a letter Amy had told them Ron’s father had gotten into some altercation with Lord Malfoy, who had apparently done his very best to insult any- and every-thing muggle and not-pureblood-conform and rather upset her honorary-Gryff parents. Next morning Edie asked over breakfast if they could invite the Grangers as they might want to see the Latch without all the snow. Shortly after, Flynn, the dark-feathered family owl, was sent off with an invitation. Riko wasn’t sure if she imagined the Grangers be just a little more reserved when they arrived, but after some time in the pleasant company of the Eohyrdes they certainly left in a good mood.

Next morning, with Edie ever-so-politely ignored Riko’s attempts to carry her own damn trunk down the stairs to the living room, Riko felt excitement growing in her guts. Underlying it was a sort of itching impatience, or maybe blood-lust, a thirst for getting started that had her blood sing in anticipation of whatever might come at her once she stepped out of the Floo at the Wyvernsknot. Edie seemed to recognize it, too, because after warm goodbyes from everyone around, and Mr Eohyrde shrinking her trunk again, she took hold of Riko’s shoulder, stopping her from reaching for the Floo powder. She gave a gentle squeeze and shot Riko a warm but serious look while drawling an only slightly ironic “Be good now!".

Riko grinned back innocently but gave short nod. She knew her crazy sometimes ran away with her and she couldn’t afford that with Vi’s family. It was good to be grounded a little, before her urge for all-out conflict got her in trouble on arrival. It wouldn’t help Vi, she had to remember that. When she carefully stepped out of a truly enormous fireplace onto a thick, bristly floomat, Riko was in the largest hallway she had ever seen in a house. It was twice as wide as the one at Amy’s house and longer than Amy’s house itself! She’d obviously come out in the entrance hall, way off to Riko’s left was a big main door with a small round window to either side.

Before she had time to further, or actually, orient herself, a high-pitched voice by her knee drew her attention. “Yous is the Miss Slyver guest, isn’t you?”

House elves. Each their own little Yoda, weren’t they? Slipping into the clear focus of an ongoing coup, good old mission-mode, Riko gave the small creature a polite smile, putting on her game face and readying herself.

“Yes, that’s me. And you are?”

The little gal, clad in a tea-cozy emblazoned with the Drake crest, seemed quite surprised at the question, so much so that she almost fell backwards over her own feet. She regarded Riko with sharp suspicion in her rheumy, slightly milky, grey eyes before answering, but answer she did.

“Marie, Miss Slyver guest. The gentlefolk will wants to greets you right, please follow Marie, now. Oh, but you cant’s go in there with a bag! Gives us the luggage, Miss Slyver guest, so’s we can takes it to the guest room. Armand! Armand, already!”

In a small puff of smoke another house elf appeared, obviously Armand. He looked less suspicious and instead more put-upon, and was dressed in a tunic that had at some point served as a sack for coffee beans. He expectantly eyed Marie, whose barked “Luggage!” sounding a bit like one of those very small, rat-like dogs some old ladies carried in their handbags. Riko hastily took down her rucksack and held it out with a polite “G’day, Armand!” The elf’s big moss-green eyes widened, but luckily he only made a quick grab for the bag and disappeared in another small puff of smoke.

Despite it being plain impossible, Marie managed to look down her nose at both the no-longer-present Armand and Riko who glanced back down at her with a politely neutral face. Drawing herself up Marie gave her a precise, perfunctory bow and waddled to the closest door, obviously expecting her to follow. As she did so, Riko threw a few more glances around. Though the style was very renaissance, with its clean lines and geometric designs, it somehow managed to invoke the same feeling of decadence Riko had noticed in Malfeasant’s baroque make-up. The stairs to her right were at least twice as wide as normal ones, again speaking for a house, and considering the size of the hallway and the placement of the doors leading from it, there had to be at least three really big rooms and likely one smaller storage or toilet or the like, if one ignored the reality of space-modded magics wizards liked to employ. Space did feels fairly normal here, though, so there was that..

The door Marie was now opening after a polite knock, was around a corner almost directly opposite the Floo and opened into a very formal sort of dining room. A ridiculously long table sat smack in the middle, late morning light streaming through two large windows directly into Riko’s face as she was bowed inside by Marie. _Seriously._

Building, just like at the Malfoys, on Vi’s reserved manners, which were ridiculously similar to Snape’s habitual mannerisms of courtesy, Riko gave a very measured bow to the room at large before turning so the light would come at her from the side. It was still very bright, but with her split pupils automatically closing to thin slits she could see well enough, now.

On the close table-end sat a woman that reminded Riko immediately so much of an older Fina it was disturbing. It had to be Vi’s mother and Riko hoped it was only the visual similarity that made her instantly dislike the woman. To the right hand of Mrs Drake, heh, hadn’t managed to buy a title, huh, was a man who looked so similar they just had to be related. The girl in the seat to the right looked so much like Vi she had to be her younger sister Ju. On the far end of the table, face obscured by the light at his back but his skin still markedly darker, was obviously Vi’s father. Just like his wife and daughters he was long-limbed and narrow, a good duellists build.

And there, much closer, to the left of her mother, sat Vi. Processing that short look around the room, Riko realized she’d fallen into quicktime. Well, why not use it then. With her most polite smile she drew back into a classical stance.

“Kaminariko Arsenia Slyver, at your service and pleased to meet you all. Thank you for your kind invitation.” It was quite an effort to not sound too dry, but Riko forced herself to stay polite. She made sure there wasn’t the slightest trace of irony as she continued. “I do hope I’m not interrupting your meal, I’ve just never cared for the idea of being fashionably late.”

Vi, who had to turn in her seat to look at Riko shot her a dry look at that, which Riko resented, at least nominally, giving her friend a lightly raised eyebrow in response. Riko might sometimes be a little late but it was always for a reason, nothing fashionable about it. The corners of Vi’s eyes crinkled then, just a little, and Riko felt like cheering. However, first she had to enjoy the extremely formal greeting of Mrs Drake, who was _so pleased you could make it, Ms Slyver_ and introduced the people around the table. The other man was her dear, clearly younger, brother Aegidius, the girl, as expected, her precious daughter Juliana, and this her dear husband Nicodemus. “And of course you already know our Victoria.”

Riko had to stop a grin at that. She knew Vi, and what with the meaning of her friend’s name she almost replied that no she didn’t know of their victory as they hadn’t scored one against her or something along the lines. Somehow she managed to contend herself with a bland, pleasant “Of course,” letting Mrs Drake continue.

“Well, I think we all have places to be and things to do,” the witch said, or rather decreed. “We were already finished, Ms Slyver, you needn’t worry, just lingering a little, so it’s good to break it up now. Victoria, I think Ms Slyver might like a quick tour before you get up to your own entertainment. Giles, there’s something we have to discuss, I have the papers in my study..”

As everyone was being more or less herded out by Mrs Drake’s precise and controlling voice, Vi moved quickly, extracting them from the situation as fast as possible. She rose, gave a perfunctory and very Snape-like bow to the rest of her family members, and Riko knew to follow her as fast as courtesy allowed. Being called Ms Slyver was just so utterly outlandish, seriously! Not even the formality at Malfeasant had reached that level!

“Mother’s study,” were Vi’s first words, accompanied by a wave with her left hand, as they walked straight out one and by another door, the stairs starting to their right. Following the hallway Vi opened another door, at the end of it. “The Courtly Room,” as Vi introduced it drily, was simply enormous, perhaps two thirds of the area of Amy’s entire house. It was dominated by another enormous fireplace with two very large windows on either side. To the right was another ridiculously long table and to the left a sprawling, bespoke lounge with lots of mahogany, white marble, deeply green silk and already the second upright piano.

The first was lurking back in a corner of what seemed to be the breakfast room, though Riko was sure is had a more impressive-slash-stuffy name. They exited the Courtly Room after the barest glance, Vi’s voice hardly audible and bone-dry as she made a discreet hand movement at an inconsipuous door to the left, “The basement, _not_ interesting.” Then they made their way back along the hallway and Riko’s previous theory was proven right when Vi made a short gesture to the front, proclaiming the breakfast room to be the “Morning Room“. They turned left onto the stairs while Vi’s gesture informed her the small room beside it was a toilet.

The first floor had something called the Gold Room with another ridiculously long table and upright piano, looking out into the street, and The Hall, which turned out to be an honest to Loki duelling hall. It even had two small bathrooms attached. It seemed to span the entire length of the house, and while Riko thought it certainly impressive it did smack a little of insane, and not the good, entertaining kind, either. To the right of the stairs to the second floor Vi tersely dismissed “’nother storage-room“ as they ascended. At the next landing Vi stopped and turned, gesturing to the single door they could see across the stairs and through the fence of the landing that led round to it: “The Library, father’s study is in and to the right, but we better not disturb him in there now. And there’s another toilet, there, if you just go round the landing.”

They followed the stairs to their right up from what was clearly the north-west corner of the building. The third floor was obviously not a place to linger, either. Vi stopped only for the shortest moment, gesturing against the clock and starting from their six. “Toilet, Uncle Giles, my parents, the Red Room and some storage below the stairs.” Then she continued straight up the stairs, which ended, at last, on the fourth floor. Coming up, Vi pointed at the door almost directly straight ahead. “My room, beside it is Ju’s, the middle one there is for lessons and the other two, opposite, are for guests. Let’s see where they put you.”

Riko’s room turned out to be opposite Vi’s, her lone rucksack looking lost on the big four-poster in a room that managed to feel cramped despite its fairly large (if smaller than the Sea Room) size. It was the dark, heavy furniture, Riko thought, the dresser and the bookshelves almost black, the massive desk like a clunky relic of tarred tree-bones. Of _course_ it also had it’s own bathroom, which _also_ , despite being twice as big as Lea’s, managed to feel cramped with the heavy-handed interior. While Riko checked the amenities Vi closed the door and performed some sort of charm Riko had never seen. Whatever it was though, it satisfied her friend as she gave a nod and sat on Riko’s bed.

At her questioning glance, Vi said quietly, and shockingly blunt. “Room’s clear, least far as I can check. Wouldn’t count on it too much, though. How’s it with your trunk?”

Riko gave a calming smile and congratulated herself on her paranoia and being prepared before answering equally quiet but still cautious of her wording. “It’s still shrunk, don’t even know if I’ll have need of it before Hogwarts. Besides, I had to leave some with Edie anyway, too many book and such, y’know..”

“Yeah, don’t I ever..” Vi answered in her dry drawl of just-amused-enough-to-let-it-show, even if that show was as visible as Pluto during a full moon. “I mean, she’s a Ravenclaw, what’s your excuse?”

From her look and raised eyebrow she had caught Riko’s every meaning. If that didn’t feel good then Riko didn’t know, really, it was relief and a feeling of home, of safe, despite any other circumstances at work here.

“Pf, I’m Slytherin, I don’t need excuses!” Riko winked, her mood improving further.

Yes, Vi looked just as stressed as last year on the train, but she seemed mostly alright, functional. And now she had Riko to cheer her up and their abilities to hold different conversations with just one being audible, or even visible, for signs, was still intact.

“Besides, they aren’t even all mine, I loaned some from Edie, like that Deep Rising, with Octalon, y’know, and I have Falling Islands along, too, in case I read fast enough. She’s already read them through and it’s ages better’n the Lockhart ones..”

“Oi there, I still confess no knowledge of Octalon and the odd muggle that managed to defeat it, even if it was with the help of a witch, yadda-yadda,” Vi’s glanced around overly cautiously even as she said it, but her grin spoke volumes. “Now, better settle in, so we can get up to our own entertainment, eh?”

And with those words Vi fell back onto the bed and closed her eyes, arms crossed behind her head and apparently ready to doze until roused. Riko gave a snort, but her worry returned. Obviously her friend really needed rest and didn’t feel safe enough to do so without someone guarding her back. It reminded her of her own stay at Malfeasant, and the idea of Vi effectively having over two months of that behind her, when Riko had been half-crazy after just two weeks, was chilling. Consequently, Riko took as long as she felt humanly possible to get her stuff from her unshrunk trunk. The toiletries and clothes and some books and oh, yeah, her homework..

Most of it actually came from her rucksack, but she slid the trunk to the foot of the bed anyway. It’d probably be some sort of faux-pas if she’d just keep it shrunk and only lived from her rucksack. Also, Korra was flying over rather than use the floo and so Riko had put the cage in the trunk, because even being bigger on the inside didn’t mean she wanted her rucksack to have a bird cage in it.

The rest of the day was, well, entertaining, that was a good word for it. The town house did have a yard, walled in and smallish, but it was obviously not to be used for entertainment, so first Vi showed Riko her own room. It was almost identical to Riko’s, only the furniture was placed a little differently and there were some more bookshelves. It managed less stuffy by sheer virtue of being Vi’s, the upper half of the wallpaper a warm yellow with fine black patterns, no, that was Arabian caligraphy sneaking over it, and her dresser a warm yellow too, faintly Egyptian in style. In this set-up the dark bookshelves looked more Hufflepuff than oppressive, and the desk was lighter and looked more at home.

“Charmed the wallpaper soon as I came home,” Vi answered Riko’s appreciative look. “Held up till now, but I dunno what it’s gonna look like when I get back next year.”

They played some games of card tricks on Vi’s bed and Riko noticed the east-facing window directly beside it was looking down on a balcony. Thinking back to Vi’s short description of the third floor, this would mean it led to the Red Room and the room of Vi’s parents. Vi saw her looking and nodded, recognizing Riko’s habitual scouting.

“There’s at least a dozen more rooms strewn about the house, too, but they’re not in use for company now, so we better stay out of ’em. Wouldn’t want to get in trouble and Marie’s bound to be all paranoid about you, already,” Vi commented lightly with some dry amusement. “’s not as fancy as Hogwarts by far, but you know how older houses with enough magic to store additional rooms get after a while.”

Riko gave a relaxed nod-and-smile and they closed the subject in favour of more harmless pastures. Lunch was a rather formal affair despite neither Mrs Drake nor her brother being around. It was held in the Courtly Room, and with only three people present the long table felt even more ridiculous. Apparently Ju had a private tutor before lunch and the afternoons to herself, as conversation on the table consisted mostly of Mr Drake (how was she supposed to call Mrs Drake’s brother, then, Riko wondered) asking his younger daughter about her lessons and the following, very detailed answers. It was just as well, she thought, because she had a hard time getting any sort of impression of the man.

He was very contained and controlled, that much was clear, and Vi had said he did research in Runes and their use in combination with Arithmancy and Astronomy which sounded all sorts of convoluted. He was obviously the source of Vi’s dark eyes and skin, even their noses were similar, though his was for some reason less commanding than Vi’s. Indeed, Vi clearly favoured her father while Ju looked to be more of an even mix, her eyes the same cool, pale blue as her mother’s. After he’d departed to get back to his studies there were a few moments of tense silence. Riko, not knowing how Vi and Ju usually got along or spent their afternoons, held back and watched cautiously. Ju seemed unsure but determined to hide it, talking in a very neutral voice.

“So, what are you planning for the afternoon?” She nominally addressed them both, but her eyes ended up watching Vi with a bit of shyness.

It was rare to see any sort of hesitation in Vi, so Riko was surprised when her friend cleared her throat and after a moment replied in a voice that was uncharacteristically cautious, as if she wasn’t quite sure how to deal with her own sister.

“We were going to have some fun in the Hall, I doubt Riko’s got any sort of decent training in the last two months or so. In the evening we’ll probably play some games here or in my room.”

“Oh, alright then,” was the only reply as Ju rose and nodded to them before leaving.

Riko couldn’t make out if the girl had hoped to be included or if she was glad not to. She seemed to be about Kean’s age but Riko couldn’t get a clear impression of her at all, almost as if the girl didn’t quite know herself either. It was just odd. However, her priority here was Vi, and there’d be little point in questioning her about the matter, so Riko kept quiet and they had indeed some fun in the Hall. At first, Vi lectured her on the rules of engagement as observed in tournaments, but although theoretically interesting they were no fun, so Riko soon found ways to distract her friend.

The Hall was a stern place, empty except for the long, enchanted carpet that made up the strip, a few low benches by the wall, and a massive shelf filled with trophies, so Riko was rather proud to have injected some fun in the room. Vi sure enjoyed trying to hit a really moving target and practise with both her left and right hand. She’d explained last year that although she was a natural leftie she preferred to duel with the right. Left-handedness was considered a handicap to the one facing you, so they automatically got more points and besides she liked to have a fallback. They had both laughed at that and Riko still sometimes called her friend Inigo Montoya.

Dinner was again in the Courtly Room and again very formal but much more stressful than lunch, because Mrs Drake was present. At least her brother wasn’t there. Beside the fact that Riko still didn’t know what to call him, he’d looked about as self-satisfied and sleazy as Lord Malfoy’s cousin Mezentius, which said nothing good about either. Even so it was annoying to see the slight traces of amusement she’d worked so hard to bring out in her friend disappear in the guarded, controlled mien Vi fell back into. Not that Riko doubted the need for it, clearly Vi knew what she was doing and Riko took her cues from her, careful of her every word and move.

At least it wasn’t quite as difficult as with the Malfoys, though Riko had a time of it to stop her smile when over soup Mrs Drake enquired after her spellfather, the respectable Lord Malfoy and how he was doing. When Mr Drake picked the topic up and asked what the Lord Malfoy thought of her visiting her friends, it was with some pleasure that Riko informed the man that her spellfather trusted her to handle her own private affairs. Both Mrs Drake and her husband seemed very interested in her family, hah, what a surprise, and how she’d got along so well with Vi, though they liked to hide that latter in a mix of other, more innocuous questions. Riko fell quickly into the rhythm of it and decided that it was alright to show the occasional bit of steel, as long as she kept it polite. It did require some use of quicktime, but it was in no way as nerve-wrecking as a dinner with the Malfoys, really.

If she wasn’t careful Riko knew she’d start to treat it like a game. Well, it was a game, but she had to remember the stakes, namely Vi and the potential of being invited again. So, after further oblique but insistent questions on the matter of Vi and their friendship Riko made a comment on how, since Vi hadn’t cared about her family it would’ve been very hypocritical of her to bother about it. It was still polite, by all rules of engagement, as Riko had brought up her own family name as a problem first, but afterwards she made sure to stay off the subject completely. The Drakes seemed agreeable to henceforth ignore at least that particular matter and the evening ended rather pleasantly, all things considered. Mrs and Mr Drake took tea, talking in low voices by the main lounge table while Vi, Ju and Riko played a game of cards by a smaller group of lounge furniture.

As she tried to fall asleep in the large and very soft bed, her luggage, door, and windows warded without the idea of paranoia anywhere in sight, Riko tried to release some of the tension in her shoulders. It was the complete silence around her that made it more difficult than was reasonable, she was sure. At Edie’s there had been constantly various sounds to hear. There was always the light rustling of the many trees, the sounds of the wood in the house, birds, the ghouls, and all sorts of other beast- and creature-sounds. Also, Edie had during her stay at the Fords, the family of Mrs Eohyrde’s brother, been infected by the speed-folk bug and played the music without pause, even when getting ready to sleep. Even muffled like that it had become a pleasant background noise that Riko was now suddenly missing fiercely. Well, in less than a week they’d be seeing her again and Edie was bound to have the music transferred from the CD to a crystal by then, if she hadn’t already.

Riko hadn’t had any concrete expectations, as such, regarding her stay at the Drakes, but even so the development at breakfast next morning managed to confuse her. They hadn’t yet got very far in eating when Mrs Drake announced that Victoria was to spend the day with her, to keep up her training.

There was a perceptible but not decipherable change of atmosphere on the table at the words, that had Riko instinctively slip into quicktime. Not that it did any good. Vi only nodded with a neutral, entirely undisturbed air that could mean just about anything, as guarded as she currently was. Ju looked a little apprehensive for a moment, but she seemed rather averse to the whole duelling-thing anyway. Mr Drake only gave a nod, entirely at ease, as if it was simply another thing to take note of, like the weather. Taking her cue from Vi, not that it seemed she could do a lot either way, Riko gave an agreeable nod and remarked she had some homework to do anyway and had heard their library was quite impressive.

It prompted Mr Drake to offer her a small tour of the library, in itself a little odd, but she wasn’t going to pass up a chance to get more intel. It was pretty interesting, too, the subjects they had covered and the sheer number of texts. It was nowhere as big as the Malfoy family library, but it was really well-stocked in the featured subjects and clearly saw more use.

When neither Vi nor Mrs Drake showed up for lunch, Riko found it harder to keep her worries from her mind, even with Mr Drake remarking they’d take a few snacks during their training. He continued with a dismissive air. “There’s hardly any stopping them once they get to it. I’m sure you know how Victoria can get caught up in it. How it it going with your studies?”

Well, that was a damn clear hint of leaving the subject alone. Riko buried her misgivings and focussed on the situation at hand.

“Oh, well enough, I had some notes on it already so it wasn’t that much work. I wanted to ask, do you have any books that deal with a wider range on the subject of Amalthea? Not just the moon but also the various myths associated to the name, and to the other names, since she’s know by a lot of other names after all..”

“I’m sure we have a number, you might have to narrow it down a little, though, or you might end up with too much. I take it this is for Astronomy, so why do you want the other mythical names, too?” He looked honestly curious and Riko focussed on the subject to keep herself from going nuts over Vi’s absence.

“Well, we’re to write something about one of the Jupiter moons and I’m trying to make a point and Amalthea seems the best bet for it. Also, she’s the most interesting, easily. Point is, Professor Sinistra’s always going on about the stars being set and learning their mechanics and all, like it’s one big clockwork. Like, I dunno, like they’re history already!” At his interested look, with just a bit of distant amusement lurking in the corner of his mouth, (a lot like but also unlike Vi in a way) she elaborated. “I mean, star maps are well and good, but they only tell you what the stars are likely to do if nothing happens. Which is no use, then, because there is always something going on! And the influence goes both ways, too.”

He nodded thoughtfully at that, as if for her to continue, his curiosity piqued. Riko cleared her throat, almost a little nervous, as this was after all a subject he knew a lot about. But, well, who better to either disprove, or help her find more info on it.

“Well, there’s a reason reading the stars is considered an art. If it was just like reading a recipe for dinner then history would be entirely different, and loads more boring. So I’m trying to prove it’s all in flux, even the stars, because even if they are also balls of stone and fire, floating somewhere, they’re still subject to their, well, spirit or nature or whatever...” she gestured, a little embarrassed, but he didn’t object, just keeping his dark eyes on her, reminding her eerily of Vi for a moment. Riko resolutely concentrated on ignoring it. “Amalthea is good proof of this, what with her link to the chariot already, by the separate association to Capra. And there’s the river-aspect, from her alias Nemesis, which is also travel, which goes back to the chariot, but at the same time with Nemesis there’s the retribution-thing, which clearly goes back to the goat. And then, if one goes for the angle of Ananke, there’s a whole other knot of strings and aliases to go from there.”

He didn’t argue any of it but, just like with Professor Snape, Riko wasn’t sure if meant he agreed or if he was making a list of everything that was wrong. Huh, better get it back on course, he could tell her if he wanted to help her, then.

“So, yes, it’s a bit much, but I thought I’d just see which points work out better and how much I find on them, and then I can see what I write in the essay. I thought of using the figures themselves, and showing they’re not just shapes but can have different meanings depending on the circumstances, but that’d make it too easy for her to say it’s off topic..”

This got a reaction, which was a little startling. “Shapes?” he asked.

“Well, there’s not just the signs or characters the stars have on the maps, after all, there’s also the signs they make up if you link them together, and depending on what aspects you trace those come out differently, of course, which makes it a lot like having a sort of alphabet, only more like kanji.” Riko gestured vaguely as she talked, a habit that helped her order her thoughts and formulate more coherent sentences and at the same time often seemed to irritate desk-partners that weren’t her friends. But it was a bit intimidating to have him ask like that, and she hoped she wasn’t making a complete fool of herself, going off topic like that. It made her markedly less eloquent. “Just more signs and characters, anyway, it’s pretty interesting in theory, but it’s nowhere near the subject I’m supposed to be writing on and it’d be an insane amount of work to trace all the possible characters and try to find the different meanings, ’cause you’d have to account for location and drift and such, it’d be sort of like a special endless alphabet and they’d be all in flux, forever, too, so you’d effectively never be finished, so I gave it up for a lost cause..”

He looked even more thoughtful now, as he leaned back and regarded her with an otherwise indecipherable face for a few moments.

“Hm, you don’t have Runes or Arithmancy in your school, yet, do you? You draw some interesting connections, do you have some prior knowledge in either of the subjects?”

Ah, so that was it. She’d blundered straight into the subject of his research, grand.

“Well, no, not really. I don’t even really know what Arithmancy is, and I never had much patience for Runes. I just know a few variants of the futhark, but only roughly, ’cause they’re not much use, usually. For messages they’re either too uncommon or common, and the rest of their use is in crafting. Oh, yeah, or scrying, which is mostly making up stories if you ask me, so it doesn’t really matter which version you use. I know some kanji, of course, and some different pictograms and such, y’know, for exploring, like be careful if you see that..”

“..of course,” Mr Drake agreed with a thin, short, almost clinical smile. He turned, apropos of nothing, to Ju. “Now, dear, what are your plans for the afternoon?”

The girl shot a very quick, reserved look at Riko before answering “I was going to finish my book on Ignatia Wildsmith.” in her usual, neutral tone.

Mr Drake nodded, shooting the girl a satisfied look, and turned back to Riko. “I dare say we can find some good books for your search on Amalthea. If you are interested I could also show you some examples of Arithmancy being used for that charting of as-yet-unknown characters. It’s rather obscure, of course, but it does come in handy in some fields..”

It turned into a very interesting afternoon and in the easy context of learning interesting new things Riko had to remind herself repeatedly to remain on guard. It was a problem that came of treating everyone like a person, foremost, and whatever they might be, second. Riko had, from a very young age, learned that no matter how dangerous someone might be, or be thought to be, they were still a person and it was best to treat them as such first. After all, depending on circumstances anyone could be dangerous, and otherwise she never could’ve interacted with anyone in her family. Even Yoko could be a damn scary menace, if it came down to it.

But then dinnertime rolled around and still Vi and her mother didn’t show up. Riko focussed on remaining civil and went to her room to read. She also placed one of her small, simple warning wards, the equivalent of a drawn thread, on Vi’s door and settled into waiting. Not even in any of her utterly boring History of Magic lessons, only counting the ones without Edie there to entertain her of course, had Riko ever felt time slow down like that. She forced herself to not look at any kind of clock, after a while, but she hardly noticed what she jotted down from the books, working mechanically while most of her thoughts scrabbled about without purchase, turning to churning worry in her guts.

It was well past midnight when Riko felt a familiar warning jerk through her, making her quill leave a great smear on her current page of notes. Her arm and shoulder were stiff from a tension that seemed ready to tear apart her entire frame. Carefully laying her things to the side and closing the ink bottle, Riko took a deep breath. She rose, stretching, looking at the clock on the desk again, then at her own. The time was still the same. She went into the bathroom, drank some water and wet her face, looking darkly at the pale, tense face that greeted her in the mirror. With a sigh she went back, dousing the lights and crawling into the bed.

Having settled in a reasonable position, Riko concentrated on creating a glamour of herself as she was currently lying there. Full person content was always hard, but this was herself, which made it easier to extract a splinter of truth and spin the web of it, to catch the senses. And she had to be careful, after all, of possible surveillance, and it would extend the time for her to get back here, if anyone came in too look or something else went wrong. There were of course also her wards on the door, but they would hardly slow the actual owners of the house down, even if she’d used all she knew which, hah, no.

Then, forming the seal, she let herself fall into the shadows, like a drop into a pool, with a soft exhalation that was only almost a sigh of relief. They were a little tetchy, buckling in places, but she just flew by, like a small rivulet over rocky terrain, under the door, up to the ceiling, because nobody ever thought to put any triggers there and paranoia, and across the hall and down to the door and through the slit. The wards on the threshold tickled even her shadow, which was saying a lot, really, but they didn’t feel fresh.

When Riko stepped back into corporeality, just inside the door, her eyes searched through the weak darkness for her friend, her every sense alert, working overdrive. It hadn’t been that long since the ward had triggered, she’d have expected Vi to be here or in the bathroom perhaps. But the air was still, no light in the bathroom nor anywhere else. There was no useful cover anyway if she wanted to see anything, so Riko didn’t even bother, walking cautiously further in. She did activate the Demon Eyes spell, though, because even with her good night vision and the weak city-light filtering through the window by the bed, the way the shadows were falling hid a lot.

Immediately it was much brighter, even the walls, of course imbued with whatever kinds of magic, and there were quite a few objects with a really bright glow about them around the room, but Riko ignored them in favour for the shining, fluctuating figure on the bed. Vi looked absolutely horrible. As soon as she’d got close enough, Riko went back to using her own eyes, much better for details and close enough to the window now, too, and she could hardly believe what she saw. Vi was lying on her back, wand still clutched in her hand. Her clothes were obviously the ones she’d worn all day and they were frayed and cut so much it was a wonder they still held together. Her skin was sickly greyish, sweaty and covered in scratches and welts wherever visible, her eyes closed and each breath a low, laboured hiss.

She’d obviously not noticed Riko, too focussed on breathing, if she was even conscious. There was an angry gash above her right temple which would probably scar unless treated by someone with real skill, like Madam Pomfrey. Riko noted all this with the detachment usually reserved for dreams or mission mode, absently and reflexively regulating her own breathing to stay quiet. The thing to do was glaringly obvious. Her friend was hurt and she had to help her. Riko silently went down by the bed and very carefully placed a feather-light touch on Vi’s hand, the one still clutching her wand. Vi was trembling and shuddering and the fact that she didn’t react to her touch had Riko even more worried. Resolutely, she focussed, then brushed outward with her magic.

She had to work hard to direct her attention ever so lightly, to get a better feel for what was wrong with her friend and how best to help her without accidentally interfering in any way. Turned out the gash and numerous other cuts and bruises weren’t even the worst problem. Though her skin felt clammy and cold, inside Vi hot currents of energy were roiling like a fever. It made little sense to her and Riko couldn’t even catalogue all the things that were not how they should be, compared to her last scan of a healthy Vi. She drew back discreetly, not wanting to bother or inadvertently hurt her friend as she felt her pained presence buffed and buoyed about by the searing currents of whatever weird fever was loose in Vi’s system.

Opening her eyes, Riko looked unhappily down at her battered friend. For a moment she thought about using her wand, but as little as she knew about healing, she knew even less about healing with wand magic! And not only would it take forever with Cutisarcio, it seemed a bad idea, too, as it used the body’s natural reserves to repair small, single wounds. In her current state, Vi would probably be off worse than before. And if she wanted to actively help she wouldn’t even be able to keep up a Levatio against the pain her friend obviously was in, damn it all! Taking a deep breath, Riko set her jaw and closed her eyes again. Her heart was beating wildly, hammering as if to escape form her chest, but she ignored it, concentrating, focusing.

The feeling of her pulse beating in her ears faded away as she sent her awareness back into the chaos swirling in Vi’s body. She only focussed on what she could do now, trying to recall every last detail of how exactly a human body went about repairing a scratch, a bruise, a cut, how the usual flow should feel. Starting with the first, less risky in case of trouble, Riko pictured the process as clearly as she could, letting her energy seep in ever so slowly and directing it along with the greatest care. It was insanely hard work and Riko lost all track of time almost immediately. The strange not-quite-fever didn’t interfere directly, but it was distracting, constantly eating part of her attention. It seemed to boost whatever energies it encountered in Vi’s body, as if to keep her up and running still, completely ignoring her bad state and lack of reserves.

After she’d finished the last of it, Riko felt like melting into a puddle of incoherent goo. The last scan showed only extreme exhaustion and the still-raging tempest of odd fever raging through her friend. Returning to her surroundings, and a splitting headache, she drew a deep, shaky breath. Her neck and shoulders were cramping. Vi was still playing dead. With a shudder of her own Riko pushed the thought away and slowly climbed to her feet. The few steps to the sink in Vi’s bathroom felt like miles and the face in the mirror looked almost as bad as Vi. Shaking her head, she started the water, watching tiredly for a moment before drinking some with shaking hands, splashing her face.

It helped, somewhat. Still moving sluggishly, Riko filled the water glass and wet a washcloth. When she was back at the bed, she again settled laboriously in a middling comfortable position on the floor so as not to jostle Vi. After cleaning her friend, at least a little, on the face and forearms, and draining the glass, Riko was starting to gather herself. So far she’d been acting more or less on autopilot, and now, while she cleaned the washcloth and ran it under the warm water, her thoughts started to work through the situation. Part of her was starting to seriously worry about Vi’s lack of reaction and the odd fever, wondering what to do, clearly scan her again, but what then..?

The other part wondered if she could realistically kill everyone in the house, and since the answer seemed to be yes, it was thinking on how best to do it, working up different scenarios almost without her attention. Damn it all that she’d left her usual equip back with Edie, not trusting the Drake brand of hospitality to keep them from her things. There was of course the question if Vi would thank her for it and for a short, terrible moment, Riko thought of ignoring it. It was chilling, and it also set her to regard the situation with more rationality. Riko hadn’t killed anyone, before. She’d actually been glad she hadn’t, after that matter with Amy and Fina and Pet. Killing someone was a serious matter, something that should be a last resort or consequence, when it couldn’t be avoided. Did she want to start with the family of her best friend? And, more importantly, what would come of it?

What would happen if for some odd reason Vi’s direct next of kin were suddenly dead? Fina’s mother, and Fina, that’s what. This would lead either to an ever-growing number of corpses or other very bad situations. Riko realized she didn’t even know if her friend had any spellparents and if such a person would have the legal standing to take her in, or be decent. She’d have to find out, first, before acting. Besides, even if hardly anyone in their right mind would suspect a slip of a girl of murder it’d probably still be better to be officially not around. If she did decide to really do it and how. And there was still the question of what Vi might say on the matter. Riko again pushed away the thought of not telling her friend.

Shivering lightly she returned her attention to what she was going to do now. First: return to Vi, put the wet cloth on her head. Whisper for attention. Still no reaction. Scan again. No change. Biting her lip, Riko touched again Vi’s hand, the left one that still clutched her wand. Setting her finger lightly, Riko raised it a little, to try and take the wand from it. She’d expected _some_ reaction at that, but even so, Riko was startled when Vi’s entire body jerked away from her. Her friend’s head hit the headboard, then her shoulders were pressed against it, the wand trained on Riko. Even with the arm seemingly too heavy to lift properly and Vi shaking from exhaustion or fever, Riko didn’t underestimate her friend.

Vi was regarding her with a guarded, shuttered look that even managed to hide just how aware her friend really was just then. Slowly raising her empty hands, palms facing Vi, Riko spoke, quietly and calmly. “It’s alright, you’re safe now.”

A short blink and although Riko noted more awareness in the dark eyes, they were still shielding whatever thoughts or emotions were behind them. To not distress her friend any further, Riko moved very slowly to pick up the water glass and held it clearly visible, her voice calm and hopefully normal enough.

“You should drink some water. Better let me help you there, though, ’cause you look like you’d fall out the bed before holding a glass..”

The wand was lowered, but not let go of, even as Vi nodded, now confusion the dominant emotion spreading over her face, accompanied by another owlish blink. Riko moved closer, still careful to make no hasty movements, and efficiently helped her friend to drain the glass and remove the washcloth which was trying to slip down over her eyes. When Vi noticed this, she moved, slowly and haltingly, to sit against the massive headboard, her every movement showing increasing confusion. Riko caught on when Vi raised a trembling hand to her temple, clearly using her last ounce of strength to just move her arm.

Clearing her throat with some embarrassment, she fell into a full-on babble. “Oh, yeah, guess what, you’re the first-ever target to get some actual healing from me, tadaa! I’m real sorry, but that one scarred, just a little though, I mean, I’m not Madam P and I really tried, but I only know the real basics, y’know like if your body’d do it, normally like. I know there’s a way it won’t, but I dunno how, I mean, usually you’d think it wouldn’t scar anyway, what with it being healed with magic, which is after all just intent telling reality to go and get over itself, but..”

Vi gave an intelligible croak then, which had to hurt her throat, judging from the way she winced at the raspy sound. Riko hastily settled her back against the headboard and refilled the glass. After the second refill, Vi was able to hold the glass on her own, and Riko found herself hovering anxiously and unsure of what to do. She had no plan, had hoped to just take her cues from Vi, after all it wasn’t like Riko knew enough to handle something like that, too many unknowns in the whole situation. Now all sorts of questions were running through her mind. Did this happen often? What had triggered it? It had to be something yesterday, as it had been the first thing, this morning. Her thoughts were racing as she tried to recall every moment of yesterday that had any sort of interaction with Mrs Drake in it, or perhaps it had been in the evening, when they’d played cards, in hearing range, had they said anything, perhaps in passing..?

“Stop it, wasn’t anything to do with you,” Vi’s hoarse, quiet voice jerked her back to the situation. Her friend was regarding her with a very dry, matter-of-fact look. “Sometimes she just has something in her system..”

Her friend gave a weak shrug, looking very tired at the words, even more than her current exhaustion, and slumping slightly. But she continued, as if to get it over with. “’s good training, y’know, and I can handle it.”

Even in the state she was Vi managed to studiously and impressively ignore Riko’s incredulous look at the declaration, which, yeah, so Riko was rattled just a bit, excuse her, she wasn’t trying to make her friend uncomfortable, she was just a bit exhausted. Still, she couldn’t be as done-in as Vi, who was acting all normal regardless. No small feat that, especially when she added with another weak, obviously pained shrug. “She sticks with the standard training spells, mostly.. So.. how was your day?”

Riko’d been mostly acting on autopilot while her friend was still out and had ruthlessly clamped down on her every natural reaction when Vi started talking. Now the unsettling memory of Uncle Kal finding her all those years ago and his calm and contained actions was looming in her mind as she struggled to keep it all on a level that would not upset her friend. Vi’s question stole an automatic, distracted answer from her before she even caught on. “Oh, alright enough, your father showed me round the library and some of what he does in his research..”

The very measured manners of Mr Drake over the day and his comments when she’d asked after Vi, Ju’s careful neutrality and manners were brought up sharply in her mind then. Something of her thoughts or mood must have shown on her face. Vi gave a short sigh, almost a tsk, looking away over Riko’s shoulder, her face somehow growing even more guarded, as she asked, very drily.

“Gonna start another prank war, in my name now?” Her tone was wary, neutral, but Riko could hear the many different hidden questions clear enough. It ranged from insecurity if Riko would, actually, over her, traces of loneliness accompanying it that were plain upsetting in themselves, and included worry about what situations an enraged Riko might create, and also a defensiveness that insisted on being able to take of herself, at least as stubborn as Edie.

The answer to all of these question was so completely obvious that Riko didn’t even need to think about it. “’f course! If you like I’ll rip them all a new one!”

With it, at long last, her own surreal unease at the persistent recurring of the idea to act without bothering about Vi’s view on the matter dissipated. Also, her instant, matter-of-fact reply seemed to have settled Vi a little, a measure of tension retreating from her limbs. A short smile, weak but real, flashed over her face.

“Better not.. be bound to get out of hand and you don’t want to get father involved. He needs a real trigger but unlike mother he’s real creative and thoughtful.”

Riko suspected Vi’s last remark was something her friend would’ve probably kept to herself, thought to explain but never really voiced, if she wasn’t as done in, so she ignored it for now. In the back of her head, however, the information was stored away, to be pondered and processed, later, just as most of her currently suppressed reactions and thoughts on the situation.

Holding up her hands in easy surrender she flashed her friend a short, warm smile “Alright, already. Just give word though, y’know, in case..”

The look Vi shot her was, just like her friend, a true contradictory marvel; dry and indulgent, oddly relieved but also knowing, clearly aware Riko wouldn’t let the matter slide without doing _some_ thing. It also showed not just a bright flash of fierce happiness that Riko felt like cheering, but also a deep exhaustion that immediately had her back to worrying.

“You should get some rest, you’ve got some sorta fever and I dunno if I mentioned it but I’m not Madam Pomfrey..”

“Clearly,” was Vi’s very dry reply, even as she slumped further against the headboard. “Took some greensleaves and didn’t get to add enough water and such.” Raising an eyebrow at Riko’s questioning face, she nevertheless answered, though her voice became increasingly scratchy. It had Riko rise to refill the glass. “Keeps you sharp and on you feet, but tends to eat up whatever it finds to get the energy.”

Well, that certainly explained her state and utter lack of reserves. Riko gave her the glass, carefully, to make sure her friend didn’t need help again. Vi seemed too tired to feel insulted by it, which clearly wasn’t the best of signs.

“So you need something to eat, right? I can..”

“Don’t bother, got some in my trunk..” Vi rasped.

Riko followed her gestures and Vi told her how to open her the wards on it so she didn’t have to try her hand at them. After finishing a few more glasses of water and some dried fruits and nuts, Vi eased back down against her pillow, no longer shuddering or clammy with cold sweat.

Her eyes were drooping heavily as she murmured “Should get back.. not get found..” but Riko could hear a note of sadness at it, now that Vi was all but asleep already.

“Oh hush, I got it all covered. Got wards of my own over there, and a glamour too. Be a bother to leave just now, so how about you get some shut-eye and I stay here a little. In case you need more water and such.” Riko winked easily and kept her voice light, pretending to not notice Vi’s slight huff of put-upon tolerance or the way her friend relaxed at the words.

Leaning over her friend to catch the other side of the bedspread she drew it over her current charge and patient, helping her settle her wand-arm over the cover and put the wand back in the forearm-holder, now that Vi had relaxed enough to let go of it. Pulling up the chair from the desk, Riko drew her wand and shrunk it to a stool, settling in for a watch. She put her back against the door jamb to the bathroom and laid her right hand on the bed, fingers resting lightly on Vi’s wrist. The door was off to the left, easily within view, and Riko was between her friend and anything that could come in through there. It was an telling indication just how beat Vi was, to not even make a comment on the ridiculous notion of Riko acting as her bodyguard.

Instead, after a short, whispered “’night” she was asleep from one breath to the next. Riko kept watch, twirling her wand, stretching one leg or the other, letting her gaze wander in a pattern designed to keep her eyes busy. After a month at Errol’s Pub and two weeks at Edie’s she was rested enough, the disturbing weakness that had followed the incident in June all but gone. She also didn’t have to worry about keeping a friend from eviscerating herself while turned into a slavering great wolf, didn’t have to deal with any active distraction, could just sit here and plot. And plot she did. Those disgusting, unhinged assholes, they would pay, she’d make sure of it.

Here she was, trying to interact civilly with those bloody scumbags, and they had nothing better to do than go and act more barbaric than should be reasonably possible, for anyone. Hurt her friend, huh, well, they’d learn. Well, no, they wouldn’t of course, firstly because Riko thought they were incapable of it and secondly because they couldn’t know, of course, Vi’s comments had made that very clear. But they _would_ pay, that wasn’t even up for discussion.

Riko didn’t even want to know what stories were behind Vi’s description of her father as creative, it might make it impossible to hold to her decision to not go and murder them all in cold blood. She’d never killed anyone, as such, directly, but she _had_ left people to their own fates when they’d fucked up and had it coming, had actually been taught to do exactly that. Well, both, actually. But all her lessons on the matter had included, not just included in fact, but stressed it, re-iterated, positively etched into her brain, the million reasons not to. To always be aware of the consequence, of the price, of the significance. Sooner or later, she knew, she’d be in the situation, in some fight, or coup, or whatever, when simply disabling someone through injury or otherwise would not work.

That was different though, it’d be a clear confrontation then, a situation where everyone involved knew what they were doing. To murder, as a guest no less, the people that had at least nominally invited her into their home, shown her hospitality and were sleeping peacefully in their beds.. that was somewhere she did not want to go, ever. Especially when they were people of Vi.

No matter how much crap was going on between the members of this family, Riko would not be the one to take them away from her friend, unless she wanted, which Riko already knew would never happen. A painful stab twisted through her at the thoughts and Riko concentrated on more constructive matters, how to go about bringing her revenge. Their success in their rather efficiently if not exactly elegantly run, illegal business seemed the best target, especially as she already had a vague sort of plan forming in the back of her head..


	5. Flying High

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are different highs and all of them require something-or-other. Lucky is the person who can manage more than one without crashing too badly, no? Some people have habitually more luck than others.  
> or: sanity is not required for logically-thought-out plans, bothering a Slytherin’s people is never a good idea, Potter manages to turn an illusion into honest-to-Horus bricks, and cars, not even very agreeable ones, should not be underestimated as to their potential for terrible accidents

Over the course of the night Vi woke a couple times, twice to drink a little, at other times only to open her eyes, look around and fall asleep again. Riko, meanwhile, kept herself busy being simultaneously entirely realistic and insane in her planning. She’d not actively include Vi, of course, but she’d not actively hide what she was doing from her friend, either. Vi could decide to keep quiet about it or talk to her, then. It seemed a reasonable compromise, especially after the secretly pleased look Riko had seen in Vi’s eyes at her offer to rip them all a new one. When the sun was creeping up, returning light and colour to the world, Riko was ready. She wasn’t going to wake her exhausted friend, but it was time to return to her room now. She left a sun-smiley glamour on the door to the bathroom and shadowed back the way she’d come. Riko managed to catch a whole hour of sleep before Cora woke her as requested, and after a good thorough shower chewed little of her own keep-awake, a sub-type of ginseng. Not as raging in effect as Vi’s strange weed, but it didn’t need to be. Riko had something to do now, to focus on, and by Loki and Horus and whoever else, she’d get it done!

Vi surely noticed her focus, the same edge to her smiles and manners that had been present during the prank war, but the rest of the Drakes had no chance to catch it, really, so far her entire visit had been in the wide range of a prank, after all. Riko channelled her entire charm and training into being a very interested guest, enquiring after all sorts of innocuous things and, buried in it all, also her real objectives. It wasn’t hard to get invited to their country home, citing curiosity about Cornwall and their observatory there, mentioned by Mr Drake just yesterday. There seemed to be a hunt planned for Saturday, which had Vi give such a resounding non-reaction that Riko felt obligated to ask about what game they were hunting and such.

“Oh, foxes, nothing else is both legal and that much sport, really!” was Mrs Drake’s very pleased answer, creeping Riko out to no end in the progress. It wasn’t even hunting for food, seriously, these people! (not to mention: yes, she knew muggle hunting was a thing with certain old families, and.. just.. ugh!)

At least nobody minded that Vi and her would stay out of the way of whatever do Mrs and Mr Drake had planned for the day and evening. Riko took care to emphasize her interest in the library and the observatory, and apparently the invited guests was so averse to studious pursuits *coff-coff* they were to be allowed free reign there. Vi did back her up, notably, so she was obviously ready to indulge Riko in her project, which did bode well. She had two nights till then, and Riko used the first to ensure her idea worked within the confines of her guest room, then scouted out the wards on all the rooms she intended to target. Turned out there was some cold iron involved, so she decided to keep it purely to ninja-tricks, moving about mostly on the ceiling, flitting about as a shadow and dragging their cover over into corporeality. The iron-anchored wards seemed pretty old and were buried deep under layers and layers of more recent additions, but she didn’t want to risk it, her understanding of faerie magic eclectic at best.

The implementation of her plan was already well under way by the time they left for Porth Constantine, which Riko thought had to be either a joke or the most pretentious name for a country estate, ever. It had probably been the first, back when, before the family had degenerated to their current level. Riko had read up some on the Renaissance and the wizarding families that grew influential in the time, and with all the humanism and focus on knowledge and such it seemed more likely. Questions to Vi on the matter turned out it was named for the two closest settlements, Constantine and Porth Navas, and as it also had access to Polwheveral Creek, which lead via a short stint in the Helford river out to the sea, it was apt enough. Also, while her friend was ready to tolerate Riko’s as yet undeclared project, it seemed she did not want to get directly involved. Most likely, Riko thought, Vi had convinced herself it was a private matter of Riko and she wasn’t going to interfere. Riko liked that well enough. It meant she needn’t worry what sort of trouble Vi might get into if everything went to hell.

Not that there was reason to expected this, but paranoia, especially after witnessing what could happen to her friend without any reason at all. Besides, after sitting back in the even-bigger library atthe estate and concentrating _just_ right, when she opened her eyes Riko could almost hear the sounds of Fiddler’s Green, in the current context her own personal hymn of triumph. It was working, already! The small, well, foki, more or less, she’d hidden in the Wyvernsknot responded to her direct attention immediately. It was a bit backwards, imbuing a passive or rather dormant charm like that in just a squiggle, but it worked. Sure, there were bound to be better ways, but she had to work with what she had around and knew already – and avoid detection.

Well, she rather doubted any MLEP or Auror had ever managed to get inside to do that, which helped. The message-relying charms were simple enough, really, any first-year could cast them, even before Yule, which was even better. The simpler, the less energy it’d draw to maintain itself, easy in the magically charged atmosphere of a bespoke wizarding home like the Wyvernsknot or Porth Constantine.  Less energy needed in order to be used, too. They’d take focus to wake, and effort to keep going, but while dormant they’d be near impossible to discover. She’d made sure to look for good places to draw them, even if it had made the imbuing a pain. All things considered, Riko thought that feeling somewhat smug about her own devious use of creatively tweaked common household magics was entirely warranted. Long as it didn’t stop her from being on guard, which was not going to happen with those creeps around.

The two of them spent the day being studious, the only exception being a small excursion in the afternoon, obscured and on broomsticks, so that Vi could show her the estate. It really was quite big, though not as enormous as Malfeasant, and pretty, in a genteel, English landscaping sort of way. They stayed overnight and while Vi probably noticed Riko’s even better mood on the following day, she didn’t comment, not even later while they were finishing Riko’s remaining homework back in the Wvernsknot library. Riko had officially commandeered her friend for the task, as much to keep her from harm as to keep herself entertained while she moulded her scattered notes into different pieces of coherent and whole homework. It was also good to have someone guarding her back as Riko was prone to just sitting back and closing her eyes at odd times, her thoughts entirely somewhere else. At night, after checking thoroughly if Cora could leave and return unnoticed, Riko wrote, very carefully and discreetly hidden, a letter that started “ _To Auror-in-Trainig Tonks, regarding a delicate matter..”_

The last two days of her stay, back at the Wyvernsknot, went by without any sort of incident, but Riko did not relax. Not before they were properly off, she’d learned that already. It only meant she was looking that much more forward to Tuesday, keen for them to be on the way back to Hogwarts at last. Even if Aegidius was going to take them to the station, as Vi’s parents were busy with more important things. Both Vi and Riko were ready before breakfast even started, everything safe in their trunks and Riko’s rucksack. Vi’s bag was in her trunk since, according to her father, it was improper to be seen in public carrying your things about like that. Riko had refrained from any comment and simply stored Vi’s things in her own, improper bag. They’d be going by side-long Apparition, which meant they had to walk a ways to the edge of the small plaza in front of the Wyvernsknot to get out of its Anti-Apparition wards. Both Vi and Riko were already waiting in the Entrance Hall when by half-ten Aegidius showed up at last. Then, while they were walking outside, he was intercepted by a pigeon.

As she watched the bird empty its guts on the shoulder of his robes, Riko again wondered why they were using those birds, as she’d noticed early on that the Drakes did not only receive post by owl. Probably it was easier to avoid detection, what with the ruddy city pigeons all over the place, but still, an owl would never do that. The man seemed accordingly grumpy at the bird-droppings but even more when he read whatever short letter had been important enough to be delivered now. Indeed, his face darkened so much that Riko would’ve bet she knew what it was roughly about. Vi had a more general and practical concern in the matter.

“Uncle,” she asked in a neutral voice, “Has something come up? Only, we need to catch the train.”

She looked properly apologetic, and if Riko hadn’t known her friend as well she might have missed the small glint of amusement that surfaced for just a moment in Vi’s eyes. As for herself, Riko was quite happy she managed a simply curios look at the put-upon, worried look the man shot them.

“Yes, yes indeed. A matter of some importance, too,” he said, then eyed them for a moment, almost looking through them and clearly entirely elsewhere with his thoughts.

Before he could even finish with that Vi spoke again. “Well, we can just go via the luggage and the Cauldron, should still work out.”

At his positively distracted grunt and nod, Vi gave him a polite goodbye and Riko quickly followed suit, trailing after her friend as she hurried off at a right angle from their former path. Only when they were definitely out of earshot did Vi answer Riko’s questioning looks.

“He’s not always the best at handling different tasks unexpectedly at the same time, and I want to catch that train. The Luggage is a pub pretty close by and it didn’t take all that long from Kings Cross to the Cauldron last Christmas, so..”

“Ah, right, I get it. Brilliant, ’nother pub, you can never know too many pubs, I’m telling you.”

Riko grinned at her friend, glad of her quick thinking in extracting them and keen to reassure her, as she saw Vi was still worried if they’d make it in time. Which was quite reasonable but there was nothing to do but hurry it up, really. Vi shot her an amused look and they broke into a jog that quickly turned into a race. Vi had an unfair advantage as she already knew the way but it was fun anyway. Riko could only give the most perfunctory of breathless greetings to a trio, two witches and a wizard, talking behind the bar as they charged in. The short impression she got of the pub itself was about as dark and slightly shabby as the Cauldron, but somewhat more roomy and, oddly enough, suspiciously tidy. As if the cleanness was only a matter of surface. Then they were through the Floo, almost stumbling as they raced from the Leaky Cauldron’s fireplace and straight out the door, towards the next tube entry. They didn’t even bother with tickets, Riko figured it’d be easy enough to disappear in case of trouble, it certainly was simple enough to slip by the barriers. Even so, as they were racing up the escalators as Kings Cross, Riko was eyeing the clocks they passed with increasing worry. As they neared platform nine it was only a minute until eleven, well, ten in Muggle summer time but anyway. No problem, platform nine and three-quarters was reached by simply stepping through the glamour of a wall that divided the platforms nine and ten, they could still..

CRASH.

If Riko hadn’t been quite as focussed on reaching her goal, she might have noticed earlier a very clear clue that Something with a capital S was about to go wrong, likely even Everything with capital E. As it was, the first and only hint was the colossal crash of two trolleys hitting the barrier they were heading for, not ten yards ahead. Attached to the trolleys, so to speak, were Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, aka Amy’s insane Gryffindor friends, aka the famous boy-who-lived-despite-his-insanity and his equally annoying Weasley hang-on. Somehow they’d managed to crash into what was really just a glamour, however that was possible Riko couldn’t even start to guess.

Hoping they might be able to just ignore the mess and still catch the train, she gripped Vi and obscured them both, hurrying around the carom and up to the wall. A moment later they both staggered back, having run straight into a wall, a real solid wall where there was definitely not supposed to be one. If Riko’s look could kill, the boy-who-lived-despite-his-insanity would have died right then and there, without ever knowing the cause. Turning to their direct obstacle again, sending out feelers of magic and conjuring her Demon Eyes, Riko tried to make sense of it, but it was no use. It was a damned, bloody, honest to Horus brick wall. And it was eleven o’clock. With a sigh, Riko turned again, looking at the spectacle Potter and his Weasley were making of themselves and then shared a resigned look with Vi. It wasn’t that bad, really, they knew how to get to Hogwarts, perhaps they could even spend some time in London first and maybe explore some of Hogsmeade, but still. Amy and Edie would worry, and they’d looked forward to it, and.. gah.. damn Potter and his insane skill to attract insane and entirely unreasonable trouble!

For a moment Riko entertained the fleeting hope they could just go now, leaving Potter and Weasley to their insane fate. But Amy would skin them alive if she heard, and they did look so damn hapless already. Sharing another look with Vi, Riko concentrated and suddenly off towards platform eleven raised, intelligible voices floated even over the current ruckus in front of them. The dozen or so people in the process of watching and commenting on the two boys, their fallen trunks and owl-cage, and the general horrible behaviour of ill-mannered children, were soon gladly distracted by the promise of even bigger mayhem. Meanwhile they could use the opportunity to obscure the two insane Gryffindors and their belongings. At least the mane-brains noticed they were no longer watched and remained quiet, thank the fates! Clearing their throats, Vi and Riko stepped up to them to help them get their things back on their trolleys. It was admirable, well, for those two, how they kept quiet even as they eyed their helpers with open suspicion. Riko didn’t even bother to find it insulting, it seemed to be an automatic reaction and there was no point in expecting them to be rational, anyway.

“We better move away before we’re noticed again, train’s gone already,” Vi remarked very neutrally in the first tense moment after she’d helped lift Weasley’s trunk back on the trolley.

Riko, who had managed to calm the screeching white owl and was glad to remove the silencing charm from the cage, nodded and put the cage back on Potter’s trolley.

Potter, who was still wheezing from the handle of the trolley that had caught him right in the ribs, stubbornly climbed back on his feet on his own and was now pressing his ear against the barrier as if trying to listen on a door. Riko rolled her eyes and took the handle of his trolley. It might make him follow his belongins, hopefully.

“Don’t bother, we just tried it and I can assure you, it’s a damn brick wall, however you managed to get that done.”

“However I managed..?” There it was again, that tone. Riko felt her hackles rise and concentrated on remaining calm. From the way he broke off, narrowing his eyes, Potter did the same, as shocking as the idea seemed in context with that nutter. Well, they weren’t at Hogwarts yet, perhaps that was it. After taking a deep breath through his teeth, he all but grit out “We better leave before we’re noticed again.” He completely ignored Riko’s dry look at the exact words Vi had said just moments ago and turned to Weasley. “We better get back to the car, so your parents can find us better. Well, if they..”

He eyed the barrier again and Riko could guess what he thought. If it was a brick wall, how were Weasley’s parents supposed to get to them? They could probably apparate out, but what if not? Weasley suddenly got over his initial dismay with such an excited gleam in his eyes that Riko felt immediately worried out of her mind.

“The car!” he all but exclaimed. After three fierce “Shush!”, a surreal feeling to act in agreement with Potter, he continued a little less loudly, mostly to Potter, either forgetting Vi and Riko were still there or not caring. “We can fly the car to Hogwarts!”

This caught Riko’s curiosity immediately. Vi seemed a little more wary but no less interested in what sounded, for all points and purposes, both insane and entertaining enough to qualify as a good, solid adventure. They shared a look of agreement.

“But I thought..” Whatever Potter had thought, Weasley talked over him enthusiastically.

“We’re stuck, right? And we’ve got to get to school, yeah? And even underage wizards are allowed to use magic if it’s a real emergency, section nineteen or something of he Restriction of Thingy..” He was already leading the way, most likely to this car he was talking about, and Potter seemed distracted enough to simply follow him, not even really paying attention to Riko who was trailing with his trolley and Vi by her side.

They shared another, doubtful look. It seemed a solid argument on the surface, that was if you didn’t account for some things, like Floo and such. Vi’s family had the guides to MLEP and Auror’s procedures in their library, quite illegally of course, and there were some parts that wouldn’t agree at all, here. But a flying car.. Potter seemed all but convinced already, anyway.

“Can you fly it?” Where he’d sounded almost panicked earlier, there was now excitement ringing clearly in his voice.

“No problem,” Weasley proclaimed proudly, already weaving through the crowds by the entrance to the station. “C’mon, let’s go, if we hurry we’ll be able to follow the Hogwarts Express.”

Riko and Vi shared another look at that, incredulous this time. It also reminded Riko of Cora, who’d declared she’d wait for Riko at the train. She blew out a soft, trilling whistle and by the time they reached a side road where an old sky-blue Ford Anglia turned out to be their goal, the raven landed on Riko’s shoulder with a grumpy, positively reproachful cark. It seemed to remind Potter and Weasley at last that they had company and they turned to regard Vi and her with renewed suspicion and crossed arms.

“D’you have another way to get to Hogwarts?” Potter all but demanded after a moment of looking warily from his trolley to Riko to Vi.

Riko let go of the trolley, crossing her own arms and regarded him with some annoyance. “Do you?” She asked after a moment, keeping her voice even. She was glad Vi managed to remain less confrontational beside her, striking a classical pose of neutrality.

The two boys shared an anxious look, then Weasley asked, actually asked, remains of suspicion mixing with what might be traces of worry in his voice. “Where’s your things, then?”

Riko forced herself to lower her arms, hooking her thumbs in her outer pockets. “They’re shrunk, in our pockets.” She could feel Vi relax a little beside her. Cora gave a cackling caw that was almost a laugh then, and it seemed to decide something for the two boys. They nodded.

“Alright then, we’ll take you. But you must never ever tell. Not that it’s illegal, but, you know..” Weasley gestured uneasily, clearly not quite comfortable with the added passengers but too much of a Gryffindor to not help someone in such dire distress. Riko forced herself to let go of some of the irony the thought provoked, catching the same look on Vi.

“Of course not. If you like we’ll give you an oath once we’re on the way.” Riko nodded agreeably.

They hurriedly heaved the trunks in the obviously magically expanded boot of the car after Weasley opened it with a series of of taps from his wand, and then Vi made a comment Riko could have kissed her for.

“Better leave a note for your parents. Otherwise they find it gone they’ll think it’s stolen.”

Weasley gave a short curse at that, hitting his head with his hand and hurriedly smeared something on a page Riko ripped from her notebook. Then he stood there, looking around worriedly were best to place it. Riko gave a sigh and gestured to Potter’s flashy, big, white owl, which they’d put in the back seat, still in her cage.

“Yeah, yeah, already,” he grumbled, looking questioningly at Potter, who nodded.

“She can catch us up, if she likes, y’hear, alright, Hedwig?” The owl did hear, and understand, too, from her somewhat grumpy hoot as she accepted the note and settled on a nearby lamp post.

Riko and Vi hastily slipped into the back seat, putting the open, empty cage behind the drivers seat so Cora had a comfortable perch. There could have easily sat two or three more people here, clearly the car was expanded all over. Riko thought of a small, old, yellow Fiat Cinquecento and had to work hard to stop a giant grin from spreading over her face. Up front, Weasley was starting the ignition with a tap from his wand, tensely telling Potter to check if nobody was watching. Potter gave his OK after sticking his head out the window. Their small road was empty of people, only the main road was busy with traffic rumbling along. Thus reassured, Weasley pressed a tiny silver button on the dashboard and the car around them vanished and with a strange, sort of tingly feel, so did they. Riko could feel the seat vibrating beneath her, hear the engine, feel her hands on her knees and Vi directly beside her, but for all she could see, she had become a pair of eyeballs, floating a few feet above the ground in a dingy street full of parked cars. It was exceedingly weird.

“Let’s go,” said Weasley’s voice from the front.

The ground and the dirty buildings on either side fell away, dropping out of sight as the car rose; in seconds, the whole of London lay, smoky and glittering, below them. Then there was a popping noise and the car, and everyone inside it reappeared.

“Uh oh,” said Weasley, jabbing at the Invisibility Knob. “It’s faulty –”

The two Gryffindors in the front pummelled it. The car vanished. Then it flickered back again.

“Hold on!” Weasley yelled, and he must have really slammed his foot on the accelerator: With a wild sound they shot straight into the low woolly clouds and everything turned dull and foggy.

“Now what?” said Potter, and Riko had to stop herself from laughing loudly. She doubted he’d meant it as a quote from Captain Finnegan. Vi shot her a look that almost broke her composure and she focussed on blinking at the solid mass of cloud pressing in on them from all sides.

“We need to see the train to know what direction to go in,” fretted Weasley, clearly still caught up somewhere rational though didn’t venture.

“No we don’t! Firstly, Cora can tell the way, just like your owl, once it catches up. And secondly, you’ll get the Ministry on all our asses! Don’t leave the clouds, now, right over London central, are you mad?!” Riko almost lunged forward to make sure Weasley wouldn’t get them arrested or worse. Vi’s calming hand on her shoulder kept her back but she still held to the back of the front seat to be closer and argue better against the madness incorporate that was their pilot.

“The general direction to take is obviously north, so there’s no reason to panic. We can try and take a look later, when we’re over land.” Vi pointed out in an admittedly more rational voice.

K’so, she’d probably sounded like Amy just then. Riko put a hand over her face with a sigh, Vi giving her a clearly ironic pat on the shoulder before letting go.

“Well, you could just make us invisible again, too, couldn’t you?” came Potter’s challenging voice, his bright green eyes, still uncanny in the tan, indian-looking face, boring into her via the rear mirror.

Riko gave a sigh and concentrated on the image of the cinquecento in her head for a moment before replying shortly. “Yes, I can. Now wait a sec, I’ll tell you when.”

She leaned back into the seat, shaking out her wand for show and looking for a good starting point to anchor the Obscurantis from the inside. Clearly not the seats and the windows were too small a part of the whole car and she didn’t have a clear enough image of how the car currently looked from the outside. Hm, the roof, that should do, or no, better to open the window and touch the blue metal outside. At least it was an easy colour to keep in mind, if not quite as easy to let it fade, but Riko was nothing if not stubborn. After a few more moments of concentration she was sure the Obscurantis had covered the whole car, even the dark underside. After the mess Billie and Ann’s last twocking had led to she knew quite well how one of those looked so it should work..

Riko did her best to layer it completely on top, to keep it from colliding with any other charms that might be on the car, but she wasn’t quite sure it worked right. “Cora, take a look, please?”

The raven had just left through the window beside Riko when Weasley made a put-upon sound. “How’s your raven supposed to see anything in those clouds, you’re nuts!”

And with those words they dropped back beneath the clouds, the two Gryffindors twisting around in their seats, squinting at the grounds. Riko fell back against her seat, working hard to keep down the urge to strangle the driver, or rip him a new one verbally. Well, alright, it wasn’t that hard, as it would surely be Weasley’s ass on the line or rather that of his parents and whoever managed to raise someone like that.. Vi gave her a small nudge in the side with her elbow and shot her a sardonic look that told Riko her friend had similar thoughts just then.

Then Potter yelled, “I can see it! Right ahead – there!”

Despite herself Riko threw down a look, Vi leaning against her to do the same. The Hogwarts Express was streaking along below them like a scarlet snake in a miniature model of a city.

“Due north,” said Weasley, checking a compass on the dashboard. Vi and Riko exchanged a dry look, refraining heroically from any comment even as he continued. “OK, we’ll just have to check on it every half an hour or so. Hold on..”

And they shot upwards again, this time not just into but through the clouds. In the middle of it, Cora streaked back through the open window, trailing droplets of cloud-water and clearly amused and proud of her own skills. Not like she could spread her wings properly, in here. The crow also nodded tolerantly at Riko, making relief bloom in her chest. Riko really wanted to avoid both notice and trouble of the sort that might actually make people want to talk to her parents, and she knew Vi held the same wish, if for different reasons. Looking over, she gave her friend a thumbs up and a relieved smile, receiving the same, if a little shorter, in return. Brilliant progress to get even that, clearly Riko was fantastic. Vi gave her another, less gentle, nudge in the side then, catching Riko before her grin of cocky pride could form fully. But it was difficult even for her more serious friend to not get caught up in the situation. As always up here, it was a different world. The wheels of the car skimmed the sea of fluffy clouds, the sky a bright, endless blue under the blinding white sun.

“Alright then, all we’ve got to worry about now are aeroplanes,” said Weasley in the front seat just then, clearly having kept an eye on them.

It felt odd, but when the two Gryffindors up front exchanged a look and started to laugh, Riko couldn’t help but get infected, and Vi joined in too. It took quite a while until they could stop it. In the silence that was starting to become uneasy again, after the weirdness of laughing together with those two, Vi raised a point that made Riko very glad her friend was so prone to level-headedness and managing, err, authoritary structures.

“We should send a letter ahead, even if we keep up, they’ll expect us to come by train. No need for anyone to worry and such,” she said.

“Gods, you’re right!” Riko exclaimed, and dug into her rucksack for her real writing supplies.

She didn’t fancy writing to her head-of-house on a ripped out page of notebook-paper. After she’d finished a short letter, she gave the supplies to Vi and blew over her words, absently looking to the front to catch two pairs of eyes watching her. With a short sigh and eye-roll she held out the parchment to let them see for themselves she wasn’t trying to sell them out or whatever. At least they seemed a little embarrassed and Riko though of the next-best reason they might have been looking like that.

“Want to use it, too? What with your stuff in the boot and all..” She blew out another sigh, at their surprised looks. “You _**are**_ currently taking us along in your car, and I imagine McGonagall might be better off forewarned, before she gets into a temper.”

Then Potter’s white owl managed to hurl herself through the open window in a manoeuvre that qualified as officially insane, crashing into Vi at full speed because she could of course not open her wide wings inside the car. The ink bottle went flying all over the place and Vi only just so managed to save her finished letter from the ensuing chaos. With identical sighs they gave the parchment, quill, and almost-empty ink to the front, and while the two boys tried to find the best words to inform their head-of-house, Vi and Riko wrote another, more informal note. Neither Edie nor Amy would mind getting a letter on a ripped out page of notebook, after all.

The car descended into a relaxed, almost tolerant silence after the departure of the birds, everyone content to just look out the window at the swirls and turrets of snowy white clouds. There were the occasional dips below the clouds, but after Cora had reassured Riko that her Obscurantis did what it was supposed to it wasn’t that hard to simply maintain it. Besides, it was interesting. The regular checks on the Hogwarts Express as they flew further and further north showed different, spectacular views each time. London was soon far behind them, replaced by neat, green fields which gave way in turn to wide, purplish moors, villages with tiny toy churches, or a great city alive with cars like multi-coloured ants.

It was a little like riding with a Komainu or other flyer, far more sedate than Ba-Quo Raven or broom, but even more relaxed, as you could simply sit back and eat a sandwich and drink some pumpkin juice or tea. The enormous size of the two packages Armand had presented them with so hurriedly was truly a godsend as Potter and Weasley had nothing to offer but some old toffees from the glove department. The only point of possible complaint was the heat; even with all the windows open, and they grew drowsy, things that would never happen flying yourself or with a Komainu. The constant airstream, combined with the sweat they were soon all covered in despite setting their jackets to the side had all sorts of muscles tense up uncomfortably, too, distracting them from looking at all the fantastic cloud-shapes. Though nobody said anything, Riko soon felt the question of why they hadn’t been able to get to the platform loom in the silence of the car. Vi and her had got out books to read between instances of cloud- and below-cloud watching, not feeling like getting out cards in the current atmosphere, two people unable to join even if they wanted to and the alternative being a showing of hands, literally, as regards their tricks.

“Can’t be much further, can it?” croaked Weasley, when the sun started to sink into the sea of clouds, staining it a deep pink. “Ready for another check on the train?”

The train was still right below them, winding its way past a snow-capped mountain. It was much darker beneath the canopy of clouds. As they drove upwards again, the engine began to whine. Nervous glances were exchanged by everyone in an almost comical pattern.

“It’s probably just tired,” said Weasley. “It’s never been this far before.."

They all pretended not to notice the whining growing louder and louder as the sky became steadily darker. Stars were blossoming in the blackness. They pulled their respective jackets or jumpers back on and Riko packed her things back in her rucksack, trying to ignore the way the windscreen wipers were now waving feebly, as though in protest.

“Not far,” said Weasley, clearly talking more to the car than his passengers, “not far now,” and he nervously patted the dashboard.

When they flew back beneath the thick clouds a little while later even Riko had to squint through the relative darkness for a recognizable landmark.

“There!” Potter shouted, making them all jump. “Straight ahead!"

Silhouetted on the dark horizon, high on the cliff over the lake, stood the many turrets and towers of Hogwarts castle. The car had begun to shudder and was losing speed.

“Come on,” Weasley cajoled, giving the steering wheel a little shake, “nearly there, come on.."

The engine groaned. Narrow jets of steam were issuing from under the bonnet. Riko found herself thinking of possible ways to extract everyone from the car without dying as they flew towards the lake. The list of ideas was not long, at all. The car gave a nasty wobble. Glancing out of the window, Riko saw the smooth, black, glassy surface of the water, about a mile below. Weasley’s knuckles were white on the steering wheel. The car wobbled again.

“Come on,” he muttered.

They were over the lake … the castle was right ahead … there was a loud clunk, a splutter, and the engine died completely.

“Uh oh,” said Weasley, into the sudden breathless silence.

Riko slipped into quicktime. The nose of the car dropped and they were falling, gathering speed, heading straight for the solid castle wall. No truly elegant solution presented itself, not at this height or with that many people. But there had to be something, this was.. OH, no, this was almost exactly like.. (Riko stopped her gut reaction, shoved it all down to narrow it to the facts.) So what if she.. she _had_ always thought, after, that if.. but could she..?

“Noooooo!” Weasley yelled up front, swinging the steering wheel around; they missed the dark stone wall by inches as the car turned in a great arc, soaring over the dark greenhouses, then the vegetable patch, and then out over the black lawns, losing height all the time. (An almost-controlled descent, really, which was.. that was good, increased her chance to..) He let go of the steering wheel completely and pulled his wand out of his back pocket.

“STOP! STOP!” he yelled, whacking the dashboard and the windscreen, but they were still plummeting, the ground flying up towards them.. Riko readied herself. Vi already had a good grip on her arm and was ready to make a grab for Weasley. She’d have to grab Potter and cast the seal for dragging them into the shadow at the exact second before they hit something..

“MIND THAT TREE!” Potter bellowed, lunging for the steering wheel, away from Riko, and bowling into Weasley. Vi tried to catch them but it was too late–

**_CRUNCH._ **

With an ear-splitting bang of metal on wood, they hit a thick tree trunk and dropped to the ground with a heavy jolt. Steam was billowing from under the crumpled bonnet; with the last sideward jolt, Riko had been thrown into Vi, and they landed in a tangle against the back of the drivers seat, all but breaking their ribs against each other. In the front, Weasley let out a low, despairing groan.

“Ron! Are you OK?” Potter asked, frantic worry for his friend in his tone.

“My wand,” said Weasley, in a shaky voice. “Look at my wand."

Riko looked up and between the seats. Weasley’s wand was shaking in his hand, snapped, almost entirely in two; the tip was dangling limply, held on by a few splinters. At least it hadn’t been his neck, but when Riko opened her mouth to say so she realized she might have told the two mane-brains what she was planning. At least that’s what they’d say. (Like she’d start explaining her shadows to those two, while they were _falling out the sky_. And they _would_ have demanded exactly that. Just look at Potter after the Norbert Mess last year!) But then, before anyone could comment or properly adjust, something hit the side of the car with the force of a raging troll, sending them all lurching about from the impact just as another, equally heavy blow hit the roof.

“What’s happen-?” Weasley gasped.

Vi was cursing a blue string to her left, and Riko hissed some equally choice words as she realized just what damn tree they’d had the misfortune of hitting. They needed to get the bloody fuck away from it, immediately! Instead they were tossed about while the windshield, the door, the entire car was battered by more thick branches. The Whomping Willow was almost bent double as its gnarled boughs were pummelling every inch of car it could reach which was, unfortunately, every single one.

“Run for it!” Weasley shouted, struggling against the vibrating door even as the roof was starting to sag.

Riko was trying to climb to the front to try and grab them for extraction, but she was thrown against the back of Potter’s seat as the whole car suddenly jerked again, its floor vibrating, now. The engine had restarted! She heard Potter yell “Reverse!” and the car did indeed shoot backwards, slamming Riko against the seat again. Wincing at the abuse to her ribs, she took the chance to look out the cracked windshield. The Willow was still trying to hit them; they could hear its roots creaking as it almost ripped itself up, lashing out at them as they sped out of reach.

“That,” Weasley panted, “was close. Well done, car."

The car, however, had reached the end of its tether. With two smart clunks the doors flew open and Riko felt the seat tip sideways. Next thing she was sprawled on the damp ground with Vi landing heavily on her, further bruising her ribs. Loud thuds told her the car was ejecting all the luggage from the boot. Then, dented, scratched, and steaming, it rumbled off into the darkness, rear lights blazing angrily.

“Come back!” Weasley yelled after it, brandishing his broken wand. “Dad’ll kill me!"

But the car disappeared from view with one last snort from its exhaust.

“Can you believe our luck?” Weasley said miserably, bending down to pick up what looked to be a fat pet rat. “Of all the trees we could’ve hit, we had to get one that hits back.”

He glanced over his shoulder at the ancient tree, which was still flailing its branches threateningly at them and groaning as if trying to rise from the ground. Riko gave as quiet a hiss as she could while Vi rose unsteadily from her, bending over immediately to help her up.

“Come on,” said Potter in a defeated tone, “we’d better get up to the school.."

Even Riko couldn’t bother to disagree with him there. Vi and she ghosted ahead, as they didn’t have to bother with dragging their trunks. Even in light of the interesting travel, Riko didn’t really feel like offering a hand, nor did she expect either of the two Gryffindors to accept it. Still, when they reached the great oak front doors, they propped them open, remembering only too well how hard it could be to push them when exhausted. They’d hardly stepped into giant Entrance Hall, vaguely lit by only a few torches at the moment, when from a particularly dark patch came a dry, controlled voice that Riko remembered very well, even fondly, from last year. Nevertheless she startled badly, almost stumbling into Vi again.

“Ms Slyver and Ms Drake. Very good. Professor Sprout will be relieved to note your presence.”

He looked like he was materialising from the shadows as he stepped forward and Riko wondered for a moment if her head-of-house perhaps knew some ninja-tricks, himself. Not that she’d ever dare ask him. He was literally stabbing them with his most discerning look now and Riko remembered uncomfortably the mess they’d just left behind them.

Giving a hasty bow, she cleared her throat. “Professor Snape, I hope our letters reached you in time.”

Vi beside her remained silent and watchful while Professor Snape let his gaze wander between them, returning it to Riko with a very small, dry smile that might even be called sardonic. “Yes, your letters were received.”

The very neutral wording reminded Riko in a flash of worry of the letter she’d relied for her uncle, to this very man, some six weeks ago. More exactly, of the heavily and wandlessly warded letter from her uncle she’d relied to this very man, her insanely clever, snarky, potion-mastery head-of-house. She thought she saw a look of sharp amusement pass over his face as she bit her lips.

Then he commented idly, as if on the weather, “It would be prudent to make for the Great Hall post-haste. The Sorting was just about to start, and I doubt you’d want to be caught getting into trouble or possibly even damaging school property before the year has even started.”

Riko actually felt her face pale at the words, although he was clearly letting them off the hook. Quickly nodding a silent thanks, she drew Vi along, neither looking back to where they knew he was heading for the two Gryffindors still on the way. Riko only hoped they wouldn’t think they’d set the potions master on them and keep her and Vi’s name out of whatever trouble the professor would get them into. She almost felt bad for the two boys. Her head-of-house intensely despised most Gryffindors, but with Potter it had an intensity that even Riko found startling at times. And she’d be the first to tell anyone who asked that the boy-who-lived was as insane a magnet for crazy trouble as was imaginable. Probably even more, if she thought of it. But there was nothing they could do about it, Professor Snape seemed to have known already. However he always managed to be so in the know, Riko had no clue. She did wish to, but, well, he was Professor Snape..

The Sorting had indeed already started, which was just as well as it distracted everyone from the door to the Great Hall inching open. They even managed to obscure themselves, sharing a last tense smile before hurrying stealthily to their respective tables. Neither Hufflepuff nor Slytherin was going to let one of their own catch trouble, so there was little comment, for now. Riko knew she’d have to tell them something back at the lair, though, and already worried on how best to spin it, to keep her word to the two Gryffindors. She still felt she’d sort of abandoned them, which wasn’t even true, right? All through the sumptuous, great feast, this time even including some vegetables that weren’t cooked ’til mushy and a tray of fried fish, just the way she liked it, Riko kept glancing to the other house tables. Edie gave a small wave from Ravenclaw table, and Vi seemed to be doing fine, too. She probably wouldn’t even have to worry about overly nosy questions with her housemates.

Amy’s table was hidden behind Ravenclaw’s and Riko didn’t manage to catch sight of her friend even once, and neither Potter nor Weasley showed up during the course of the feast. Instead, shortly before the Sorting was finished, Professor Snape returned. After Headmaster Dumbledore had welcomed the students and added his usual string of odd words (Timble! Knotwork! Evershade!) there was a short, animated discussion at the high table. Less than a minute later Professor Snape, the Headmaster, and Deputy Headmistress McGonagall, also the head of house Gryffindor, rose and left the Hall. They returned after quite a while, and not together, and Riko’s worry increased. But neither the headmaster nor any one else at the high table spared her or Vi any attention. Well, shortly after the professors had left, Hagrid, the keeper of the keys and grounds gave her and also Vi a small wave. At least small for him. It was turned into a grand gesture simply by his size and expansive nature, but still, it was very nice of him and Riko waved back with a warm grin.

After everyone had eaten their fill, and some even more, there were the usual admonitions from the headmaster for students to keep out of the Forbidden Forest and not use magic in the corridors between lessons, finishing with the usual about try-outs for the Quidditch house teams and the odd but entertaining school song. Nothing about forbidden corridors, this year, either. Riko was starting to relax. She’d even managed to shoot a few looks at the new Defence-teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart. At the distance he was little more than just another figure in cornflower-blue robes with an occasional twinkle of white teeth or gold trim on his equally blue, jaunty hat. By then at least half of her female housemates and a good many of the older boys had somehow managed to trickle to the side closest to the high table and there was much commentary on his great looks, even among those closer to her end of the table.

Then they were all heading down towards the lair, on a faster route than last year. Apparently watching the firsties get their orientation was more of a spectators sport than Riko had thought at the time. Riko was admittedly curious how this year’s sixth year prefects, Cueverdas and Spiers, would spin it, and of course how the newbies would take it. Even if she was also tired and the bruises from the unpleasant end of their journey were starting to really smart. Which of course made it the perfect time for Gemma Farley, now seventh year prefect and even more impressive for it, to appear by her side and tell her Professor Snape wanted to see her in his office. The Sunbeam, named after the stunningly iridescent snake that gave fair warning and liked to burrow as much as hunt, shot Riko a look that already said it all. Well, it was less worrisome than if it were  Cueverdas. The asp, nice as she liked to be, had a sharper temper and though they were no more dangerous than their housemates, those named after venomous snakes tended to be just a little trickier to deal with. Case in point, the range of reactions if you called her Jess, never Jessica, alright, so it was always a bit of a gamble to go to the asp. So, Riko put on her most relaxed and reassuring smile despite feeling entirely unsure inside, settling back properly into her mindset of ‘a little serpent’.

“Don’t worry, Sunbeam, I can hardly be in trouble before the year even starts, eh? ’sides, y’know how I am about losing us points.”

“Yeah, I know, you’re right terrible at it,” Farley winked and touched her lightly and politely slow on the shoulder. “Wasn’t even my main concern, little serpent.”

Riko shot her a thankful look and twinkly salute at this vote of confidence, inwardly thanking Bismark _again_ for the title and hoping he was doing well; then headed to heed her summons to doom. Well, hopefully not, but it _was_ worrying. Riko had hoped to avoid notice altogether this year, and here she was, just arrived and already her head-of-house wanted her in his office. And if there was one person tricky enough to find out.. but, no, they’d already skipped by the matter last year, after the incident with Quirrel and the Volde-face, and he’d obviously received the letter from Uncle Kal. With an impatient shake of her head Riko drew back her shoulders. She’d find out soon enough, just stay calm. However, when she knocked and followed the very quick “Enter”, Riko was unnerved to see not only her head-of-house, but also Professor Sprout, McGonagall, even the headmaster! In her rising worry, not panic, worry, Riko almost overlooked Potter and Weasley. They were slumped in two chairs by the fireplace. Fantastic, so much for no need to panic, remarked a dry, Vi-esque voice in the back of her head.

Her unease, or at least some startlement, must have shown, as the headmaster rose from a deep, stuffed armchair and courteously waved her over to the fire. “Good evening, Ms Slyver,” were his words, delivered in a friendly, warm voice, that almost immediately made her relax. That, in turn, had her worry double at her easy acceptance of his tone, even if only for that short moment. Albus Dumbledore wasn’t to be taken lightly, and not because he always seemed far too energetic for a man with silver hair and a similarly shining beard that went past his belt. Last year he’d cleanly seen through their Obscurantis, and just as during the civil war barely a decade ago, he was still the only one Voldemort, that mad creep, still feared. And that didn’t even mention how he’d simply jumped down a miles-deep cave, knowing that a Devil’s Snare was at the bottom of it, or how the atmosphere around him was so very much _his_ you could almost taste his power..

“If you’ll please take a seat. Ms Drake should be here momentarily, allowing us to finally lay this matter to rest.” He smiled serenely as he seated himself again, his light blue eyes sparkling behind his half-moon glasses, but Riko’s alarm was only growing as she was working to decode the atmosphere and situation in the room.

All three heads-of-house seemed right put-out, which was most noteworthy in case of Professor Sprout. The head of house Hufflepuff was a squat, practical witch and usually very easy-going and warm. Unless she caught you bullying or hurting someone under her care. Like, say, any of her students, or really any students, or of course any of her plants. Ah. Oh, bollocks. Professor Snape and McGonagall were at each others throats often enough, and usually about Potter, too, so it was hardly surprising, now. It would have been very good to know what had been said so far, but as she had no way to know, Riko’d just have to play it by ear. The two Gryffindors were eyeing her with great big eyes full of worry, which could mean any number of things. Well, if they’d already ratted out Vi and her, they’d look more defensive, right? Her fretting was interrupted by a knock at the door, then Vi entered, face slipping immediately into her mask of neutral calm when she saw the scene - so very similar a reaction, or rather defensive instinct, that Riko felt absurdly reassured.

“Ah, very good, thank you for coming so quickly, Ms Drake. Please, have a seat,” Headmaster Dumbledore greeted her warmly, and then Riko felt again better upon seeing her reaction from minutes before mirrored in her friend.

Dumbledore seemed, in stark contrast to everyone else, utterly relaxed, even amused as he leaned back in his seat, gesturing as if for some sort of performance to start. Not really that far off, all things considered. It started with Professor Snape and McGonagall simultaneously starting to speak, breaking off immediately and eyeing each other furiously. Professor Sprout used the following moment of tight silence to speak first, which was uncharacteristically confrontational of her.

“Now, there are some questions regarding the considerable damage done to the valuable Whomping Willow here on the grounds earlier this evening. By means of a supposed flying car, no less.” She blew out a huff of annoyance that Riko might have found amusing for it’s similarity to a badger’s huff in just about any other situation. But the short witch gathered herself quickly, clearly aware of her colleagues just waiting to start up again, and continued briskly. “You wouldn’t have to add anything to that, would you?”

Her flinty look said everything about her views on the matter and the dire consequences to be expected if they did. Riko felt a small boulder lift from her shoulders at the words. Clearly they already knew everything relevant she could have possibly said.

“Err, no, terribly sorry!” She didn’t even have to act, really. The tree guarded Edie’s way to the Shrieking Shack, allowing her to go to this school despite being a werewolf and thus officially a Dark Creature. If anything serious were to happen to it.. shite, Riko didn’t want to _think_ on it. At her side, Vi quietly shook her head.

“Is it going to be alright?” Riko allowed herself to ask with honest worry.

Professor Snape’s face had become his trade-mark, unreadable mask, but the look he shot her at that carried a strong whiff of ‘Really, now?’ Completely undeserved, but well, presumably he didn’t know. McGonagall had crossed her arms over her chest, and her face was anything but unreadable, carrying the very same comment. Those two really were absurdly hilarious at times.

Professor Sprout, however, visibly calmed at the question, her shoulders settling and her voice a god deal less incensed when she replied. “Yes, it’s old enough to survive far worse. But it was so upset it almost uprooted itself, trying to chase.. well, it’s going to be fine soon enough.”

She was eyeing the two of them with far more goodwill now, which Riko much appreciated. At least one professor stoutly in their corner couldn’t hurt.

McGonagall, however, seemed even more incensed at the development. “You’re expecting us to believe that four students missing the train and arriving within less than an hour of each other have nothing to do with each other?” The deputy-headmistress looked ready to spit fire.

At least this was a question Riko felt she could safely answer, as it wasn’t anything easily doubted and carried historic evidence, too. “Well, I’d find it harder to believe we did have anything to do with each other arriving here. I mean, they’re.. well, you know.. insane.”

Riko tried to be diplomatic, really, but even in quicktime she couldn’t come up with a better description of the two Gryffindors, even if they had taken them along. That was Potter for you, she thought resignedly. And ‘inconceivable’ might have the Tartan think she was mocking her or something. Even so McGonagall’s lips thinned even further and the way she drew in air through flared nostrils reminded Riko uncomfortably of her mental image of the formidable witch spitting fire.

Luckily Vi spoke up, then. “Miss Slyver was staying with me, so of course we came here together, and I really don’t know what we’d have to do with anyone else in that regard. I know it’s a bad idea to miss the train, but we did write a letter and explain. My uncle was supposed so take us and he was delayed. And it’s really not that hard to get here, Merlin’s dangle! You can always floo to Hogsmeade or get someone licensed to apparate you.”

They both very carefully didn’t look at the two Gryffindors just then, Riko focussing entirely on Vi’s masterfully performance and Vi obviously on the deputy headmistress. Riko couldn’t have managed to put it better herself, really, though the sad fact was that even if she did, McGonagall wouldn’t believe a word she said. Well, rightly so, in this case, but that was quite beside the point.

“Clearly,” came a dry, drawled comment from Professor Snape, whose lightly raised eyebrow seemed designed purely to quietly mock McGonagall. “Though the times of arrival do make it look somewhat suspicious. Floo-travel is rather fast, after all.”

Riko thought there was an almost playful note to his leading, inquisitive tone. She wasn’t sure if McGonagall caught it too or if there was another reason the deputy-headmistress looked like she’d just bit into a lemon. Either way, it lightened her mood considerably, made it that much easier to answer with a shy, innocent smile.

“Well, there’s tons of places in London I’ve been meaning to show Miss Drake for ages. Still are, admittedly, there’s just that many. I mean, it’s quite easy to loose track of time.” Accompanied by a look of sheepish, apologetic guilt and a small shrug, Riko thought she gave a very good show.

The short, amused looks she received from her head of house and, shockingly enough, the headmaster, seemed to prove her right. The Tartan still looked ready to eviscerate her, but clearly you couldn’t win them all.

“We just didn’t think it a good idea to arrive too early. We certainly never planned on being late, it’s just too easy to lose track of time. First we ever noticed it was getting late was when some of the shops started closing..” Vi’s embarrassed tone and shrug were simply fantastic and as they shared a short look Riko knew exactly which excursion her friend was using for reference just then. They certainly hadn’t planned on being late last year before Christmas. She almost grinned right then and there, only managed to contain it to her eyes.

“So of course you couldn’t be expected to know anything on the whereabouts of an ominously convenient flying car or where it came from,” scathed McGonagall.

“I’m sorry, but I really wouldn’t know what say!” Riko held up her hands in a placating manner, her eyes flickering ever so quickly over to the two boys who were watching the enfolding drama with dazed expressions. Clearly this should end before they could find some way to ruin everything after Vi and her had made such a good show of it. “Besides, what’s so bad about a flying car? I mean, unless it lands in a tree, or something..”

“What’s so bad..? You mean beside the danger of muggles seeing it fly, or someone stealing it and getting into all sorts of situations?! Exposing muggles to magical, impossibe sights, letting them take _pictures_! There’s laws against that sort of thing, and for good reason!” McGonagall answered in a very severe tone, almost automatically it seemed, before noticing she’d been diverted from her inquisition and catching herself.

Luckily it was enough for Riko, giving her room to move things along. “You mean if I had a car I couldn’t enchant it to fly? But it’s my car!”

Riko injected as much disappointed incredulity as she could without starting to laugh. It caught her various looks of disbelief, and an honest to Loki dry smile from her head-of-house. For a precious second McGonagall seemed at a loss just how best to rip Riko a new one for her gall - and promptly lost her chance to do so.

“And this exact attitude is the reason there’s a department called Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. Where I believe your father is working, Mr Weasley.. now isn’t that a coincidence..” Professor Snape’s tone made clear what he though of the word coincidence in this instance and the gangly red-head paled.

Riko could understand it. He’d lost his father’s car and, as it was apparently indeed illegal, his father working for the department to prevent such things.. well, that might turn nasty. She actually felt some obligation now, to..

“Now really! What a way to bring up pure conjecture for..” McGonagall was immediately up in arms at his implication, almost making Riko smirk.

What a nice feint from her head of house, and so efficient, too. Then the headmaster cleared his throat. Everyone fell silent while he looked them all over like bunch of overenthusiastic children, even the teachers.

“I think it is clear no new information could be brought to light, and we will all need to be fresh and rested tomorrow for the first day of lessons. Mr Potter and Weasley, I hope you will remember my words. Ms Drake and Slyver, thank you for your time. I’ll be heading for bed, now. Professors.”

And with a nod at them all, he left. McGonagall drew herself up and herded her charges out of the office with a stormy face while Professor Sprout and Vi trailed her rather more sedately, politely nodding at Professor Snape and her. Riko was already up and following them, not just a little relieved, when..

“Ms Slyver, a little more of your time.”

Answering Vi’s questioning, positively worried, look with a calming one of her own, despite her spike of nerves at the unexpected words, was not easy. Especially because she was by now feeling really, _really_ tired. Riko pressed her tongue up to stifle a yawn and turned back, closing the door. Professor Snape was back to his completely inscrutable face and sorting through one of the drawers in his massive, darkwood desk. As he hadn’t asked her to take a seat again, Riko simply waited uncertainly by the door.

He rose, a small envelope in hand, and glid over to her. “Your uncle asked me to give you this at the start of the year. I trust you’ll have no problem opening it.”

As she took the letter, Riko could feel the soft tickling of Uncle Kal’s magic. Well, looked like he’d given her a puzzle, too, not just to her head-of-house. She hoped it wouldn’t turn out to be one of his rare practical jokes, teasing her curiosity with the promise of a letter that turned out to be empty. After all, what might he have written that they couldn’t have talked about at the Aoi Fukujin?

“Not too much, I think.” Riko gave her head of house a thankful, slightly embarrassed smile at the words, hoping he hadn’t been too annoyed at the wards. “He really likes puzzles, but he usually makes them so they can be solved well in time for the message to be read.”

“I see,” was the very dry reply, followed by “Good night then, Ms Slyver.”

Murmuring her thanks, Riko retreated and hurried back to the lair, straight to her dorm. Where Tony was already waiting. Heaving a tired sigh, Riko started talking before the horned rattlesnake and mistress of nosy questions could even start. Sars and shades, as much as she liked her housemates, she remembered why she’d looked so much forward to the holidays.

“I was staying with the Drakes and we missed the train, and rumour has it Potter and Weasley attacked the Whomping Willow with a flying car, which is now nowhere to be found. So we were asked if we had anything to say on the matter, which we didn’t, as we know how to use the Floo. Now apologies, good to see you again, but g’night.”

Then she headed straight for her bed and, after throwing her shoes to the side, collapsed with a weary sigh. Tony kindly accepted the sledge hammer summary and headed back to the common room, to make the most of it, no doubt. Riko was asleep before any of her dormmates came back.


	6. Setting Up, Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaannd the new year of school starts, at last! All those people and schedules, sheesh, stealing your time and bothering you with homework..but at least there’s good parts too, spending time with your friends all in one place, for one.. =)

Although it was jarring to suddenly be caged in by schedules and structures again, the next day was by and large alright for Riko. When she woke at her usual early hour there was already a timetable card on her bedside table. According to it her first period was free, which was always nice as she didn’t have to worry about taking breakfast at her house table. Not that she didn’t like her housemates, but she preferred to eat with her friends whenever possible. Lessons stole enough of their time, really. Stretching provoked a hiss of pain as various bruises from yesterdays crash were jumping to catch her attention. Sleeping in her clothes hadn’t helped either, a she’d obviously turned and slept on her various pockets. One steaming hot shower later Riko felt much better.

The water-dappled light playing along the familiar shapes of the dorm and their bathroom put her at ease in a strange way that took her a while to identify. It wasn’t quite the pleasant sort-of-coming-home feel from the Aoi Fukujin or Errols’ Pub or just being on the road again, no, Hogwarts in general and her house in particular was a little too much work, a bit too much from under her control, but it was similar. It was familiar, after all, and her own plan to be here, and she knew to handle herself. Moving as silently as possible she unshrunk her trunk and collected the things she’d need today. Clearly, putting it all away could wait!

Running into Vi on the way up put her in good mood immediately, as they could now sit by the Hufflepuff table together. This early the Great Hall was practically deserted, and they were already settled down by their usual, closest-to-the-door corner when the food appeared. From one moment to the next, the four long house tables were laden with tureens of porridge, plates of kippers, mountains of toast and dishes of eggs and bacon and any number of other breakfast food imaginable. In view of this, Riko didn’t even mind the dull cloudy grey of the sky as it could be seen on the enchanted ceiling. They were very gallantly waiting for their friends, only sipping a little tea and nibbling on a scone or two, but luckily they didn’t have to suffer this hardship long until Amy and Edie arrived together, looking to be in a middling good mood. As they trooped over, Riko noted their looks and offered her best, charming smile.

“Hey there! Sorry we didn’t make it yesterday, but you did get our note, yeah? Don’t worry, we’ll tell you everything, already!”

There was still a good measure of reproach in their looks as the two officially responsible and well-adjusted members of the Untouchables sat down, but indulgence and humour won out. Riko also noticed that Amy’s bookbag looked about ready to burst which, given its enchanted properties, was saying a lot. Just like Amy herself.

“You’ll tell us everything, alright! Harry and Ron crawled straight to their dorm yesterday, the cowards, that car was seen by lots and lots of people over London, it was even in the Evening Prophet, and if you think I’ll believe for a second..” 

“Shhh, calm down, Amy, I think they’re going to tell us already..” Edie interrupted, gently, and heaped some scrambled eggs on her friend’s plate.

“Hmph, they better! Else you won’t get you present, so there!” Amy poked an accusing finger at Riko, but a smile was lurking at the corner of her mouth now and she obligingly started to eat instead of commenting further.

Even so, Riko knew better than to enquire after any potential presents and launched straight into the story of their adventure. Trading in telling and describing everything, both Vi and Riko managed to eat some breakfast, ironically no less than their friends, who were again and again distracted from their plates by what they heard.

“So, I dunno what the headmaster said to them, but at least there was no proof of a flying car, so his father can just deny it all. Good thing, too, I read in the Prophet he’s working to get some sort of muggle protection act passed, give his department some more rights and such..”

Riko gestured vaguely; it had been some two weeks ago she’d read it and it hadn’t seemed all that interesting at the time. But if she wanted to get a car and enchant it..

“Well, that’s one thing, at least!” exclaimed Amy. “What were you thinking?! You should’ve told them to use the Floo! What’re you.. no.. No, Riko, you can’t even get a car yet and..”

“Oh, come on, Amy!” Riko wheedled with a smile, glad when her friend was already looking more amused and thoughtful than incensed.

Where Vi’s home-time led to a more serious, even grave nature (and small wonder! Riko hastily shoved the memories away), Amy’s seemed to increase her penchant for heeding useless rules. It was good to see some of it fading already, in both cases, as Vi wore a fondly amused grin at the moment, sitting more relaxedly than she had the entire last week. It was a little odd to think that while she herself found the return to Hogwarts, or rather to all the schedules and structures and people telling her what to do, irksome, the others were looking forward to it. All three of her friends were obviously glad to be back here, if for various, different reasons. Even Edie seemed happier. Well, it did make it possible to hang around with all three of them at the same time.

Shaking her thoughts off, Riko quickly continued to capitalize on the gained ground in her project to entertain her friends out of their moods. “I mean, it’s a flying car! How could we not? Even you would’ve wanted a ride, you can admit it, we won’t tell! It was great, I mean, you came back from Spain by aeroplane, right? Now imagine you can just skim over all those white clouds in a comfy car, steering it yourself – you could fly anywhere!”

Seeing some scepticism at that last point, Riko gave a small shrug and a smile. “Well, alright, perhaps not anywhere, at least not without some breaks along the way, but still. Soon as I can I’ll get me one.” Then, catching the looks of her friends at that decisive statement, she quickly changed the subject. “But anyway, you said something about a present! Tell me more!”

She’d finished with her best version of puppy-eyes, but it was impossible not to grin, too. Her mood was so good it was positively soaring above the dreary grey clouds still visible on the ceiling. They were all together again, nothing was going to stop them from having a good time, now! Judging from their expressions, resigned but also amused and most importantly relaxed and happy, they didn’t begrudge her fine mood.

“Well, in case you forgot, _some_ one turned twelve yesterday,” Edie winked at her. “So even if that someone wasn’t around, there’s some procedures to be observed. As such, we, kind and thoughtful friends that we are, prepared some presents.”

As always, her proper and well-mannered words combined with the warm humour in her expression, laughter all but shining from her eyes, made Riko grin. She almost laughed, only now realizing she had indeed forgotten all about it yesterday. Well, she’d been busy and distracted, both in the days before and yesterday. Not that she usually did anything great on her birthdays, in the last few years she’d just kept herself very busy around that time. But that was quite entirely beside the point and nothing to be discussed over breakfast.

Riko flashed another gleeful grin, glad her friends didn’t seem to have noticed her short moment of distraction. “Well, lucky me, then, to have such kind and thoughtful friends! Show me, then, or are going to keep them just because I was unavoidably detained yesterday? I even have a witness for my innocence!”

As she gestured grandly at Vi beside her, Riko caught the discreet, thoughtful look her friend was giving her. Perhaps she had noticed, after all. Or perhaps she thought of yesterday, when neither of them had mentioned it. Riko had to admit it was unlikely Vi had just forgotten, as they had obviously thought of some gift, together. Perhaps her friend had simply assumed she didn’t want the two Gryffindors to know. Riko was ready to admit she was, by normal standards, a little odd about anybody knowing anything about her, and her friends were all aware of her healthy dose of paranoia as they liked to call it fondly.

“Hmph, you are all but clinically unable to be innocent!” Vi grinned at her, obviously ready keep her thoughts on the matter quiet.

“Nonono, that’s serious, what you’re referring to. I’m almost constantly innocent of a truly astounding number of things!” Riko replied with much mirth, her already light mood rising even further as she silently praised her fantastic friend.

“Well, that’s one thing hard to argue..” agreed Edie, holding out an almost head-sized package over the table. Amy, who was digging in her bulging bookbag, gave into an easy laugh and drew out an even bigger rectangular package. Riko hastily took both, opening the bag first: it contained a staggering number of sweets. Sifting through the sugar quills, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, chocolate frogs, ice mice, pepper imps, peppermint toads, balls of Drooble’s Best Blowing Gums etcetera, Riko listened to Edie’s explanation.

“The sweets are from all of us together, though I was the one who picked them out, so any complaints will go to me, y’got that?”

“Hah, complaints! You’re still nuts, Edie, I’m starting to think it might be incurable. But don’t worry, you’re fitting in perfect!” Riko grinned at them, happily. “Ta!”

Then she opened the other package and it was even harder to not simply combust from glee, especially when Amy told her to open the covers. All three of them were signed “ _To Riko, the inconceivable, by John Finnegan”_ and beside it the signatures of her friends with added congratulations to her birthday.

“That’s fantastic.. but how’d you..?” Riko couldn’t even mind their very satisfied expressions at her loss of words.

“Well, he’s Seamus’ Dad.. so I asked him, after Edie said I could use Will for it, and he said his Dad’d be there to see him off, so I should ask him myself..” Amy was blushing quite prettily and Riko eyed her with renewed respect.

“Wow, that’s so great! Really, Finnegan’s father, who’d ’ve thought! Did you get one signed for you, too?”

“Erm, no. I don’t have them, myself, I haven’t even read them yet. It was really funny; he even asked me ’bout it and he was still really nice when I told him I hadn’t.. said I had all year now and to ask him again, then.”

Riko laughed out loud then, startling a few of the other early risers that had by now filtered into the Great Hall. “Well, that’s grand, innit? You can all have yours signed, then! Ugh, oh no! Edie, I’m so sorry, I still have yours! You could’ve asked if..”

“Oh, shut up, you!” Edie grinned amiably at her. “Just give ’em back before then, eh? Got your own now..”

“Yeah, that I do..” Riko thought the top of her head might fall of so big was her smile. She hastily shook herself. “Right, here Amy! Deep Rising, aka volume one, coming up. Give it a read and tell me you don’t like it with a straight face, I dare you!”

Amy smiled as she accepted both the book and the challenge and Riko happily stored Islands Falling and Phantom Mountains in her rucksack with great care. Taking her timetable, she turned back to them, still unable to wipe her cheer from her face. It was still odd, even after all of last year, to have people who’d do such things for her, but it was a very nice sort of odd.

“You, my dear, inconceivable fellow Untouchables, you’re really the best..thanks”

“Yeah, yeah, flattery will get you everywhere..” Vi smirked, kindly giving Riko a good excuse to poke her in the side.

Before matters could escalate, Edie and Amy had their schedules out too, looking purposefully at them. They quickly agreed to keep to their house-schedule of last year, spending Mondays to Wednesdays mostly with their housemates, the rest of the time with each other. By now more and more people were entering the Hall so they had to be careful in discussing all their plans. First thing, their old room had to be checked, if it was still as untouched as last year and thus usable, which they decided to do after fourth period, meeting there. Then Amy hurriedly moved to her own house table as most of her yearmates entered.

“Glad my housemates require less maintenance,” Edie remarked idly, throwing a warm look at her own house table past the Slytherins in between. “We just get along quietly like.”

“Same here,” commented Vi drily. “Hannah, y’know, Abbot, just asked me if I was alright, yesterday, and that was about it.”

Said girl, still sporting her two trademark blond pigtails from last year was currently sitting beside the Fat Friar, house Hufflepuff’s patron ghost, and listening to something he was telling her and two boys, Macmillan and Finch-Fletchley.

“Herbology, first thing,” Vi said by way of explanation. “With Amy.”

There was a rushing sound overhead then as a hundred or so owls streamed in, circling the hall and dropping letters and packages into the chattering crowd. Riko was already looking out for the usual roll of Daily Prophet that Vi and Edie shared a subscription for, but she was not prepared for the long thin package that was dropped unceremoniously by its six large screech owls. More exactly, she wasn’t prepared for said large parcel to be dropped in front of her and Vi. Luckily there was a place free between her and the next Hufflepuff. It struck the edge of the table beside Vi, after throwing their toasts to the floor, and bounced down their end of the table. It was wrapped in thick parchment and addressed to Riko.

However, before she could get around to checking it out, a great noise roared up behind them. At first Riko thought it might be an explosion, automatically slipping into quicktime at the shock and she saw Vi and Edie flinch, too. But it turned out to be a loud, very loud voice.

“-STEALING THAT CAR, I WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY’D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON’T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE GOT THAT NOTE-”

The yells, a hundred times louder than humanly possible, made the plates and spoons rattle on the tables, and echoed deafeningly off the stone walls. Unlike many other people in the hall, Vi and Riko didn’t turn around to see who had received the Howler sharing an uncomfortable if lightly amused look.

“-LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN’T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD BOTH HAVE DIED-”

Edie’s face held clear disapproval then and they both put their hands up in a placating gesture, trying to look innocent and not wince at the continued yelling.

“-ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED, IMAGINE THE SORT OF TROUBLE THIS COULD MAKE FOR YOUR FATHER, ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT, AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE’LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME.”

That had been it, then, and Riko waited a few moments for the hush in the Great Hall to pass. She didn’t want her words heard all that far. Vi and her shared another look, more laconic, and Riko could see her thoughts reflected there. Considering all the possible repercussions they knew of, getting yelled at by a letter seemed a very light price for getting to ride a flying car for a whole day over all of the British Isle.

“I’m glad my parents would never send me a Howler, really,” Edie said calmly when normal talking had resumed. “They say it’s barbaric and sort of pointless.”

“Well, it seems a Gryffindor thing to require more maintenance,” Riko pointed out consciously, “I mean he even wrote a note and I didn’t read it but it can’t have been that bad.”

Vi gave her short flash of amused-smirk at that. “Yeah, they’re just sort of excitable, Gryffindors. I heard their entire family are.. guess it makes for good explosions now and then.”

“Hmph, if Amy could hear you now..” Edie tsked, but she did smile a little.

“..then she’d probably agree. I mean, she’s much better at it, but she’s prone to it, too, being all excitable and not thinking things through.” Riko had said it very matter of factly, because it was after all true. The dry looks she received in response made her bristle, a little. “Which I may inform you is entirely different from me. I’m prone to being excitable, thinking things through, and then doing it anyway.”

“Mostly,” was Vi’s very dry answer and she and Edie shared a small, eyes-only smile.

With a put-upon sigh and a smile of her own, Riko turned to her package to leave this useless subject behind. Moments later she was grinning with glee, Vi and Edie looking suitable impressed at her brand new broomstick, a remake of the famous Lightning from ’67. It came with a letter bearing the crest of Malfoy, which Riko would’ve just ignored at the moment, at least until she was back in her dorm. Well, if it weren’t for Edie’s very curious look. Heaving a short, distracted sigh she waved vaguely with her hand, hoping to lay the matter to rest quickly.

“Spellfather, I stayed with them shortly over the summer, after I missed the first few flights. Anyway, they got ’bout a dozen or so brooms lying about, looked after and all, and Draco’s easiest to get along with on a broom, so I tested through theirs, ’cause I didn’t have one yet.”

Lightly letting her hand wander over the handle, Riko grinned. “They have an original of those, it was the first of Lady Malfoy when she was at Hogwarts. They’re right brilliant ’cause they like to do their own thing and hardly need any attention, and then you just have to use a light touch and.. the manoeuvres you can do with those - fantastic, I’m tellin“ you..”

“Really.. from what I heard they were infamously headstrong and bound to fly haywire if you insisted on, y’know, flying your own damn broom,” Vi’s dubious voice floated into her haze of broom-induced glee.

“What, you mean it was a stubborn broom who didn’t want to be told what to do? Certainly you are kidding.. no, wait, Papa had one of those, it landed him in a tree when he wanted to skip over a lake during a storm..”

“Hrmphf,” Riko shot Edie a look of mild irritation at her mock-serious manners. She’d been there when he told the story over dinner, after all. “That’s what you get for not letting your mount do what it’s supposed to. That’s the point of riding after all, you tell it where you want to go, not how to do it, else you could just fly yourself!”

“You, are mad, Riko, any one ever tell you that?”

“Yes, Vi, constantly, but I’ve yet to find it a problem.”

“Oi, you two, breakfast’s almost over. Vi, you said you had Herbology with Amy?” Edie broke into their good-natured bickering in her never-ending quest to avoid any potential escalation. As thanks she received two looks of _I see what you’re doing but I’m going along with it_ and the hurried silence of two people finishing their breakfast. She smiled and went back to her porridge.

Riko gave Vi a cheerful wave and grin as her friend hurried off to her lesson with Amy, who’d hopefully not be too annoyed at the Howler or try to unreasonably blame its appearance on them. Edie had first period free too, so after accepting back her fangs and equip Riko all but dragged her friend outside to try out her new broomstick.  It was brilliant fun, just fantastic, so much so that in second period Riko was the closest to late she had ever been for Transfiguration. McGonagall’s flinty look spoke volumes on her thoughts of this and Riko’s windswept, out-of-breath appearance. Riko couldn’t really bother to mind it, just then. Here, at last, was someone she owed nothing but general courtesy and who didn’t hold any unfair stakes, such as the Malfoys or Drakes. Easy!

Unfortunately, although Amy had saved her a seat, the lesson itself was anything but easy. Only days ago she’d written her homework on the subject but apparently Riko’s head had thrown most of it out since then, and jumbled the rest to a complete mess. And of course McGonagall simply started with her usual, incomprehensible notes, as if the last lesson had been just yesterday, and then they were supposed to turn beetles into buttons. Riko couldn’t have thought of a more boring task if she’d tried, and it made her lack of success even more annoying. While Amy beside her turned several normal, boring beetles into several boring, normal (if at least useful) coat buttons, Riko worked hard to not curse up a blue streak. By the end of the lesson she had, thanks to Amy, two coat buttons imitating Amy’s which she promptly gave to her friend. The first result, a pretty beetle-esque hook-and-eye, she kept, and the two melted, mangled not-buttons she threw at Brown and Patil while McGonagall wasn’t looking. The last beetle caught fire. Riko was very glad to leave, hurriedly, for lunch, waving a cheerful goodbye to her friend before heading to the Slytherin table and at long last properly greeting her housemates.

They were tolerant, already well used to her somewhat irregular attendance, and by now the story of the flying car had been through enough rumour mills that they didn’t need to bother her about it. Riko was very glad of what she’d told Tony yesterday. Draco enquired with a smug grin if she’d had any interesting post today and then held forth in great detail on why he thought his own new broomstick, a Nimbus Two Thousand and One, far better. He also looked just about ready to burst with some other news, but he didn’t say a thing. Riko threw a questioning glance at Tony but let it go upon only receiving a raised eyebrow and finger signed shrug in answer.

The afternoon, double Charms, was far more pleasant and entertaining, firstly because she shared it with Vi, and secondly because Professor Flitwick was far more reasonable than McGonagall. Most of the first half was taken up by questions about the concepts of last year, giving the students the chance to earn points and continued normally from there. Afterwards they checked their room while waiting for Amy and Edie, who after all had to make their way down from Astronomy. It was clearly still unused, the two wardrobes as empty as the few shelves, the battered old couch still the only other piece of furniture in the former teacher’s living quarters - but it also hadn’t collected the slightest bit of dust in the last two plus something months. Probably the house elves, knowing it was being used again, had adopted it into their cleaning cycle. They had just settled back into the long-missed comfort of the lumpy-looking couch when Amy and Edie arrived, looking around carefully as they entered.

“Hey there, don’t worry, all clear!” Riko greeted them, “Good you’re here, we can start planning ’bout the potion, at last. It’s too bad the lacewings need to stew for twenty-one days so it won’t do for the 12th, but next month we’ll be ready!”

“Potion?” Edie looked confused at Riko’s abrupt start of conversation.

“Oh, the Polyjuice, right, Riko?” Amy interjected at they also settled on the couch.

“Polyjuice?! Riko, where’d you find that one? It’s not exactly legal, and some of the ingredients aren’t, either.”

Riko shot Vi a look of annoyance, to which her friend only replied with a very even one, drawing up one eyebrow. Hmph, alright, maybe it would be reasonably appropriate to tell them about it. Riko had in all honesty completely forgot about the matter of legality once she’d solved the problem of practicality. Still, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes a little.

“Oh, pf, legality schmegality. Anything helpful or interesting seems to be illegal in some way or other and it’s not even really Dark anyway, really. It’s been listed because people impersonating other people is usually not a good thing, moraless, I looked it up, but that’s rather working backwards, isn’t it, and it’s not the case here as we’re not doing any harm disguised as Edie, so there.”

“But Riko, how will we get the ingredients, then..?” Edie asked, cautious but already over the legality. It was nice, how practical she was, really.

“Oh, we already have everything,” Amy said, waving a hand dismissively, then turned and gave Riko a hard look. “Though I wonder how you did that. And you never said it was illegal, or the ingredients, either. So, where did you find about the potion?”

Riko threw up her hands with some exasperation that admittedly might have stemmed at least in part from being defensive. At least, if that was Amy’s only problem with the potion and its legality, there was little else to worry about.

“Well, the ingredients aren’t illegal everywhere, so it wasn’t that hard,” she stalled, then heaved a sigh. Vi and Edie knew, already, so it was only fair. “After I missed the planes that evening, I stayed shortly at my spellfather’s, who’s incidentally Lord Malfoy, and I’ll thank you to not make an issue of it. He’s really not that bad, at least he wasn’t at the time.”

Riko actually felt a little bad, then, for her aggrieved tone. She heaved another sigh, catching her temper. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to grump. It’s just, I know he acted real rude, I mean, you told us after all, and I admit he certainly isn’t some harmless fellow. I suppose it’s just what category you are in his view, y’know, I’m sure Potter and Weasley act different when you’re with them in Gryffindor, right? I mean, they better, ’cause otherwise..”

“Stop rambling, Riko,” Amy gave her a tolerant smile. “I’m not gonna hold your spellfather against you, you didn’t pick him, did you?”

“Well, no,” Riko said, feeling somewhat foolish now.

“Thought so,” Amy all but grinned at her and Riko knew she was also thinking of last year, when on this couch Riko had been so worried they wouldn’t accept her adopting them. As if to offer an olive branch, or perhaps simply because she was Amy and thus curious, she continued, all but closing the subject. Riko could’ve hugged her for it.

“Spellfather, is that like godfather? Are there Spellmothers, too?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty much the same,” Edie replied. “I have two spellmothers, one of Mama’s old friends, from her Tithe year, and some cousin twice removed of Papa that he always got along with well enough. She’s pretty distant though, I hardly even see her once a year and she’s not that interested in little kids, so..”

Edie gave an unconcerned, philosophical shrug and Amy nodded thoughtfully. “I have a godfather, he was at uni with my parents, and I think it’s pretty much the same as with you.”

They all looked expectantly at Vi, though with some caution. Family was often enough not a good subject. But Vi simply shrugged good-naturedly, shooting a dry look at Riko. “Spellmother, but she died, couple years back in a duel. Rumour has it she had something with my father, but I seriously doubt that, she was never keen on him. Was a Ravenclaw friend of mother. I got a spellfather, too, but he’s over the channel, from my father’s side.”

Riko blinked and almost, almost, blushed. She caught her thoughts and composure quickly enough, though, and only gave her friend a short nod. So much for finding out about the legal viability and such of a spellparent taking Vi in. Vi raised her eyebrow at the nod, obviously not surprised and they shared a shy but comfortable look. The lull in conversation stretched into a long moment of silence, as neither Amy nor Edie knew just how to react to the uncommonly extended info or Vi’s ready delivery of it. Riko leaned with a content sigh against Vi and threw out some thoughts she’d harboured for a while now, keeping only the warm knowledge that Vi had known _some_ thing, and still liked her.

“Alright, any homework, yet?” she restarted the conversation, “We’d best start with the potion on Friday, or maybe Saturday, that way we have some time to spare after it’s finished. We can do it here, put it in the fireplace and a glamour around it, and perhaps leave the window open, too. Amy and I have Transfigs, but we can do that over the weekend, too.”

Vi settled against her, too, all but mirroring her. “Well, we have some for Charms but it’s not much. We can do it before going to sleep in our dorms tomorrow and until then we can just talk it over? I wouldn’t mind some decent training in the mean-time, not duelling, by the way..”

“Vi, we also have some for Potions, even if it’s until next Tuesday. Amy and I don’t have any for Astronomy or from Defence.” Edie sounded very amused at the last words, a soft laugh escaping despite her obvious efforts. Amy gave a huff at that and both Riko and Vi threw them curious looks.

“Right, you had Lockhart, already! He any good?” Riko enquired.

“.. well, opinions differ on that..” Edie remarked with a fond smile at Amy.

“I’m just saying, accidents can happen to anyone, and he was being very helpful to Professor Sprout this morning..”

“He was? Professor Sprout didn’t really look all that pleased when he was coming back with her from the Willow..”

Vi sounded drily dubious, but Riko was more interested in something else. “Accidents?”

Edie grinned, but wisely kept her tongue as Amy really jumped into the fray.

“Well, in Defence he let out a bunch of Cornish Pixies and it was a little chaotic. But I’m telling you, he just wanted to give us some hands on experience, ’specially after Seamus said they weren’t really dangerous. And it wasn’t that hard! If they hadn’t all just panicked..”

“Perhaps they were just a tad surprised he’d actually do that, ’specially after that test of his. I mean, really, what’s his favourite colour? What’s his secret ambition? When is his birthday and what would his ideal gift be?? The subject is called Defence against the Dark Arts, not your handy course on the author Gilderoy Lockhart!”

Edie was using her conciliatory voice, but she couldn’t keep a healthy dose of amusement out of it. Riko and Vi raised their eyebrows at the description, looking with interest to Amy for a repartee.

Their bushy maned friend didn’t disappoint. “Well, he wanted to know how much they’d kept from reading the books, which is perfectly valid. Finding the trick to defeat some beast or situation may well be hidden in a seemingly trivial remark in a book! And he was really helpful when we had our first Malfoy encounter of the year.”

“Really? What happened? Draco lose any points?” Riko asked, because even if she’d been inclined to argue Amy’s point, which she wasn’t, it seemed a nice thing to move to other subjects which wouldn’t make Amy quite as defensive. Besides, she was a little curious.

Riko knew well enough to stay clear of it when Draco got it up to put one over Potter. The boy who lived and his Weasley shadow seemed to bring out the worst in her housemate and his two, well, goons, really. It wasn’t that she disliked Vincent or Gregory, but they seldom showed any defining characteristics that might have contradicted their goon-ness.

“No, unfortunately not,” grumbled Amy, though she gave a small conciliatory smile at Riko’s mock-hurt “Oi!”

“It wasn’t really that terrible, he was just his usual insufferable self. We were in the hexagonal courtyard after lunch and this first-year came up and wanted to take a photo of Harry, all sorts of excited, and for him to sign it and what-not. He’s a muggleborn in our house and seems a bit mad for photos, and, well, heard all about Harry and, as I said, excited..”

Amy gave a tolerant shrug even as she rolled her eyes with a mix of humour and exasperation. Riko grinned and Vi and Edie did, too. They could all imagine how Potter would react, faced with such an enthusiastic fan. Amy shot them a mock-stern glare but then smiled a little, herself.

“Yeah, could’ve fried and egg on his face. But anyway, then Malfoy shows up and makes a production of Harry giving out signed photos. Which of course led to the usual insults, and then to mocking them about the Howler and not putting another foot out of line. So, Ron, of course, went for his wand, you know how he gets, right silly if you ask me, and it doesn’t seem to work properly any more, too. But then, before it could all explode, Professor Lockhart showed up and broke it up.”

“Oh, alright then, I see why you like him already,” Riko smiled at Amy, then noted the way her friend was becoming defensive all over again. It wasn’t the very best thing to say, apparently, as Amy started to actually blush and Edie grinned like a true shark.

“Well, he also awarded Gryffindor ten points because Amy had full marks at the test. I’m sure it’s that, and certainly not because she might possibly be crushing on the handsome, friendly professor who stars in so many books she’s already read and memorized..”

The way Amy was huffing at that was both adorable and hilarious, as was the way her own head could’ve been used to fry eggs, now. Riko grinned but hastily put up her hands in a placating manner, not wanting to put her friend in a temper. Amy was a rather serious person, all things considered, and still recovering from home time. Better not risk it.

“Well, I’m sure even if she does it’s perfectly harmless and nothing to worry about. You wouldn’t go behind our backs and start a fanclub or stalk him with a camera and ask him excitedly to sign his photos, right?” Ignoring Amy’s half-irritated half-grateful look, Riko made a mock-grave face, proclaiming with great dignity. “Amy can like teachers like nobody else. Truly, she even likes McGonagall, I dare say that says it all.”

“Hmpf, that’s Professor McGonagall to you. And if I can manage to not hate Professor Snape then believe you me, liking Professor McGonagall is really very easy. She’s really smart and fair and..”

“Hah! I rest my case!” exclaimed Riko, laughing. “So, no homework for now, great! Edie... do you have some MCs of your music, here?”

“What music?” asked Vi then, and Riko remembered just how cut off her friend had been over the last two months.

Edie replied, before Riko could even think of something to say. “Oh, I ran into some great music, when we saw off Lea and when we were staying with Uncle Willie. And no, I don’t have the MCs here, but I can bring them tomorrow. But I got something much better..”

At their expectant looks, Edie dug into her bag and pulled out a small notebook with a green cover, the structure of a leaf on the front. When she tapped it with her wand, it turned with a puff of pale green smoke into a stack of four books. It raised memories, to be sure, but Riko still asked.

“Edie.. is that..?”

“Yeah,” her friend grinned, pure pleased mischief dancing in here eyes. “Lingua Loquendi for German. I thought we could take turns picking a language, y’know, and then you could visit at my uncle’s, too..”

“Fantastic! Why didn’t you say?” Riko was almost dancing with glee. “That’s such a great idea! Shiiit, I should’ve got Japanese ones, but I didn’t think of it at all..”

“Well, Edie is just a little smarter than you, clearly,” Vi dead-panned, sitting up straighter with interest. “How’d you get them?”

“Lea bought them in Bordeaux. She caught me out about knowing French when I told a few older kids I didn’t appreciate being called a little stump of straw, ’cause they didn’t think I’d understand, being just a tourist twit and all that. When I told her of last year she found it so funny she got them for me right then and there, and charmed them, too. Dunno when _she_ learned French but she’s been apparating and exploring all over the place, last year, looking for people to make music with and get along and such.”

“Huh, that _is_ brilliant!” Riko nodded. “Too bad we can’t start right away, but tomorrow, alright? After dinner? Then we can visit Hagrid after fourth, catch up a bit, and now I vote for some training. Freestyle!”

With much laughter, the other Untouchables agreed.


	7. Public Mudblood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone knows the Wizarding Society is rather nuts, and the complete lack of ways to integrate newcomers, to give them some insight in to how things work, the history and context of magic and all it can be - probably on account of this might lose you some advantage - is just criminal. And it really leaves no way for things like this not to happen.

With her usual unease at getting back into a student’s schedule and behaviour full-time Riko was glad the rest of the week was peaceful. Thursday seemed very short; Slytherin only had two subjects, first double Potions and after lunch double Herbology. Professor Snape was his usual snarky, hard-ass self, but he was, also as usual, focussed on venting his temper on Potter, so it wasn’t really a problem. Her head of house seemed content to keep on more or less ignoring Amy and her working together, which suited Riko just fine. Herbology was rather more work than usual, but very interesting none-the-less. It was in Greenhouse Three, which was in and of itself reason for interest: they had only ever worked in Greenhouse One before, Greenhouse Three housing far more dangerous and interesting plants. Riko looked around with great interest as she filed in behind Edie, breathing in deeply the smell of damp earth, fertilizer and the heavy perfume of some giant, umbrella-sized flowers dangling from the ceiling stems.

“We’ll be re-potting Mandrakes today. Now, who can tell me the properties of the mandrake?” started Professor Sprout, once everyone was seated.

Patil’s hand was first in the air and she spoke already, before the professor had called on her, sounding like she sometimes did, as if she’d swallowed the textbook.

“Mandrake or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative. It is the main ingredient in many potions or pills for curing people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state.”

“Very good. Ten points to Ravenclaw,” said Professor Sprout. “The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?”

Dita, not taking Patil’s hogging of points lying down, spoke even while her hand shot upwards, barely missing her twin brother’s shoulder.

“The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it,” she said, and her narrow look at Patil made clear she wouldn’t mind having one on hand, just then.

“That’s correct. Ten points to Slytherin,” said Professor Sprout, giving both girls a settling, tolerant look. “Now, the Mandrakes we have here are still very young.”

She gestured to the row of deep trays, where about fifty or so tufty little plants, purplish-green in colour, were growing in rows. They were then told to put on earmuffs that ranged from fresh brown and smooth green to pink and fluffy, charmed to shut out sound completely. When they were all set, Professor Sprout rolled up the sleeve of her robes, grasped one of the tufty plants firmly and pulled hard. Riko saw then instead of roots a small, muddy, and remarkable ugly baby pop out of the earth, the leaves growing right out of its head. It had pale green, mottled skin and was clearly bawling at the top of its lungs. After Professor Sprout had deftly buried it again in a larger plant pot with lots of dark, damp compost, she dusted off her hands and gave the thumbs-up for them to remove the earmuffs.

“Our mandrakes are only seedlings, so their cries won’t kill yet,” she said, calmly, moving to the side of the tabled area. “They will, however, knock you out for several hours, which I rather doubt you want to happen in your last lesson of the day.”

When the students were slow to shuffle over, she waved her hands encouragingly. “Better get to it, then, I’ll attract your attention when it’s time to pack up. We want to get finished, today. Four to tray – pots are stacked here – compost is in the sacks over there and take a care around the Venomous Tentacula, it’s teething.”

At the last words she gave a sharp slap to a spiky, dark red plant, making it draw in the long feelers that had been inching sneakily over her shoulder. Edie and Riko were joined at their tray by two Ravenclaw girls, one Riko recognized by her short black hair as Lisa Turpin and the girl introduced her friend, Morag McDougal.

McDougal looked with some scepticism at Riko when Edie introduced her and Riko wasn’t sure if it was because of her not-quite standard looks or her name or whatever else. The girl didn’t say, instead asking bluntly, “You were in the hospital wing for an entire week last year, after exams, right? You weren’t even at the feast. I heard Quirrel went mad and hexed you real bad.”

Great, she just had to group with the Ravenclaw that liked to looked beyond her books. Riko gave the girl a short sigh and a polite smile.

“Yeah, something like that,” was all she said before putting on her earmuffs and getting to work. She was not keen to discuss matters of almost being killed with a stranger, especially having put them firmly in the past.

Luckily they didn’t really have opportunity to speak, after that. Beside their earmuffs, the Mandrakes themselves were enough to prevent conversation. Professor Sprout had made it look easy, but it really wasn’t. Just like the plants last year in their detention with Vi, the Mandrakes didn’t appreciate being re-potted, at all. They didn’t like being pulled out of their comfy, earthy beds but neither did they care to be tucked back into new, bigger pots with fresh earth and compost. They squirmed, kicked, flailed their sharp little fists and gnashed their gravel teeth and one even bit Lisa in the soft webbing between her thumb and forefinger. By the end of the class everyone was sweaty, aching and covered in earth, but the Mandrakes had all been transferred into their new homes. On their table, they had united quickly in their struggle with the small root-creatures and now breathed a deep sigh of relief. They all insisted that Lisa go to Madam Pomfrey to get the bite looked at and unlike any of her friends, or admittedly Riko herself in the situation, the girl was entirely, relaxedly agreeable about it.

“Just to be sure, I know. I mean, it’s not deep but with the earth it’s hardly hygienic. Mum’d be giving me a lecture on bacteria of the soil now and bring out the iodine, she’s a geologist, y’see, so I’m not gonna complain over a few charms by Madam Pomfrey.” She said it with an easy smile and waved them goodbye as she walked back to the castle with McDougal.

Amy and Vi were waiting already by the exit of the Greenhouse, and in no time at all they had reached Hagrid’s hut. In even less time they realized he was not in. But the weather was good and they’d been away long enough that a tour to rediscover the grounds was a good idea. First on their list was, of course, the Whomping Willow. They took care to remain at a good distance, not wanting to provoke the tree who had many branches in slings to speed its recovery. Catching Edie’s worried look, Riko hastily told her what Professor Sprout had said, that it would be fine soon enough, and they moved on. They circled by the big hedges Vi and her had used for a cover-story last winter and traced the current layout of their labyrinthine passages.

On their way back to Hagrids, to check if he was in yet, they came by the big hen-coop, hidden from sight of wandering students by a wide expanse of bushes and some small fir trees. Trotting along cheerfully in front of her friends on the narrow, winding path, Riko almost collided headlong with someone going the other way. Instead, Vi ran into them from behind. After they’d all sorted themselves out, Riko eyed the unknown girl with interest. She was alone and obviously younger, very freckled, and her straight, fiercely red hair was up in a messy ponytail. She was also eyeing them back with obvious curiosity.

“Ginny! Hey there! Are you alright? What are you doing here?” Amy sounded oddly flustered as she made her way forward, all but shoving Riko and Vi into the bushes at the side of the path.

“Hermione!” The Ginny exclaimed, quickly mastering her surprise. Riko liked her already, especially when she continued with a light mischievous tone and an easy grin. “I could ask you that too, but I guess it’s the same as me. After hearing so much about your exploring it seemed the best thing to do on a free afternoon.”

While Edie and the Ginny cordially greeted each other, Riko and Vi were watching with much interest. How did they know each other? Was she a Gryffindor or a Ravenclaw? She looked a bit Weasley, but was she?

The girl seemed aware of this, as she turned to them and gave a short bow, introducing herself with a proud grin. “Ginevra Weasley, at your service. But you better call me Ginny, else I won’t guarantee squat!”

Riko laughed and even Vi gave a grin, introducing herself exactly the same way, Riko following their example to the letter. They were all grinning by the third count of “won’t guarantee squat”, Amy and Edie rolling their eyes and holding back laughter.

“So, you find anything interesting yet?” Riko asked invitingly, “And how’s lessons so far? You probably know already, but I really recommend you find someone to keep you sane during History of Magic. The subject’s alright, but Binns is liable to drive you nuts with boredom, and one can’t always sleep or read a book, I’m talking painful experience, here.”

Ginny gave a quick smile at her words, only slightly wary, and Riko wondered if really all Weasleys were Gryffindor and just how closely the girl was related to the Weasley brothers she already knew about. It didn’t seem the best thing to ask just then, however, as her answer, while good-natured, was obviously also guarded.

“Yeah, ta, I heard some about it but it’s good to know. Classes seem alright so far, but then I didn’t have Binns or Potions, yet.”

Her lack of answer regarding exploring and mention of Potions, aka the subject taught by Slytherin’s head of house, as a problem was a clear warning. But she was polite about it so Riko just raised an eyebrow and shot her a friendly smile. She was hardly one to heed harmless warnings when curious, and one had to appreciate the girl’s attitude and humour.

“Oh, potions is alright enough if you manage to not be Potter, which seems easy enough for you,” she winked. “As for exploring, I’ll give you a freebie now, just in case you didn’t find it yet, and when we meet again we can see if you wanna share notes. If you ever want to cross the third floor real fast look for a tapestry with blue rose-vines, near Charms.”

Ginny had drawn her brows together at the first words, but gave her a thoughtful smile after a moment. “Alright then. Guess we’ll see soon enough if I manage to find something you haven’t already.”

They grinned at each other at the light-hearted challenge and Riko could see her friends’ smile grow, even as they rolled their eyes. They cleared the path for Ginny and, after they’d waved and she’d given them a playful salute and hurried on, they did the same. Hagrid was in by then and both he and his giant bearhound Fang were glad to see them, greeting them enthusiastically. He immediately invited them to dinner, as usual delicious, crusty bread with ham and cheese, toasted over the great grill in his fireplace, and over tea he told them all about how Fluffy was doing. The Cerberus had been a bit grumpy after spending most of last year guarding the philosophers stone, but by now he’d relaxed enough for Hagrid to want to introduce them.

The Untouchables had met, or rather sneaked past him, already, though Hagrid knew only of Amy’s adventures with Potter. But he insisted that Fluffy was still a pup, almost, and didn’t hold grudges and it was agreed they’d visit him on Sunday afternoon in his clearing in the Forbidden Forest. No chance they’d pass up a chance to enter the forest legally with Hagrid, after all. Riko was very glad Fluffy had not woken the times they’d passed him and hoped he hadn’t done so later and kept their scents in mind. From the looks of it, so did her friends. While Hagrid showed them his current project, a crop of pumpkins the size of boulders that all but dwarfed the small vegetable patch behind the hut, Riko tried asking him about it.

“Nah, if he doesn’t have a reason, like seein’ ye do sumthing he’s supposed ter stop ye from, a hound won’t bother keepin’ a grudge for a scent. Might jest make ’im more inclined ter meet yeh. So, tried havin’ a look, too, then, las’ year?”

Hagrid laughed at their uncomfortable looks, waving it off. “Eh, no harm no foul, I say. Specially with what y’all did fer Norbert, bless ’is little heart. I’m so proud’a him, can’t even tell ya. Charlie writes me letters all the time, said ’e was one ’a the youngest to act’lly lift off and fly, reckons he got a taste fer it on the way..”

He trailed off and blew into a big handkerchief before returning to the matter at hand. Any mention of his little ward of a dragon was likely to bring the big, gentle caretaker close to tears, though he always enjoyed telling them of his exploits. They always liked hearing it, too, having worked tirelessly to help Hagrid and his little dragon in those weeks.

“Anyway, here they are. Coming along fine, aren’t they? Fer the Hallowe’en feast, should be big enough by then. Been giving them help along th’ way, y’know.” He winked and they grinned appreciatively. Riko was seriously impressed, recalling her own troubles with healing as in messing with nature.

“Hagrid, you’re a real wiz with that stuff! Professor Sprout says it’s mad difficult to properly integrate any sort of magic in plants, ’cause they’re alive and always keen on growing how they know best and I bet you know way more ’bout all the creatures in the Forest than Kettleburn!”

Hagrid blushed and stuttered and clapped Riko so strongly on the shoulder she almost fell into one of the pumpkins. “Ye’re mad, ye kids, ’m sure Professor Kettleburn keeps up on it, too, comes by for tea now and then, too, real nice fellow, always ready ter help out if I find a hurt one..”

He remained quite distracted after that and they soon made their way back to the castle, already looking forward to starting with the Lingua Loquendi for German. They didn’t bother returning to their houses before Amy and Vi had to leave for Astronomy at midnight, glad to hang out together again. It was really only thanks to Riko’s habitual paranoia they didn’t get in trouble for it. She’d insisted that Edie and she obscure themselves, trailing after Vi and Amy who walked expertly with the air of being exactly where they were supposed to be, which was after all en route to Astronomy. As they stepped out of their side-corridor onto the landing of a smaller stairway they ran smack into a shadowy figure. Dressed in flowing robes, it almost fell backwards down the steps of the stairs, catching itself at the last moment with a loud “Whoa there!”

Half a moment later, all visible and invisible persons had their wand out, aimed straight at the other party. Then, in the flickering light of the torches, everyone relaxed. Amy also flushed burnt-brick-wall-red and Riko almost laughed at her stammered “P-professor Lockhart!”

Professor Lockhart, today in robes of pale sea-green, gathered himself quickly. “Miss Granger! That was very dangerous, I could have disabled you and your friend before even realizing who you were! You were lucky I was so quick to notice your stunning hair! What in Merlin’s name are you doing out of your house at this hour?”

Riko had to hold her hand in front of her mouth to stop her laughter then, both at his words and Amy’s impossibly increasing blush. If the man kept it up, she worried her friend’s head might explode. Amy was beyond coherency, so it was good she had Vi beside her. The Hufflepuff kept calm, as always, and handled the matter like a seasoned diplomat.

“Professor Lockhart, Miss Granger and I are on the way to our Astronomy lesson with Professor Sinistra. You are of course welcome to accompany us to the Astronomy tower, if you like, to make sure we’re not trying to pull one over you.”

Riko gave a sharp grin at the offer that was clearly given for him to turn down, and watched as Lockhart gave a quick laugh and a roguish wink that seemed to mirror her own thoughts. Interesting that. And what was he doing here himself, at this hour, one floor above his quarters and two above his classroom?

“Oh, I’m sure Miss Granger would never do such a thing as try and pull one over me! Not that I don’t have enough experience to notice, as demonstrated to great effect in my encounter with the vampires of Voughn county, to name just one of many instances throughout my adventures. Though it is very good of you to make the offer, Miss..?”

“Drake, professor. We wouldn’t want to inconvenience you, of course, I’m sure you have more important things to see to,” was Vi’s polite and innocuously sly reply, and Riko almost giggled at the courteous not-question of what he was doing here himself, even as she focussed on reading every last detail of Professor Lockhart’s reply.

He seemed sharply amused for a moment, before slipping back into his overly gallant, well, mask, obviously. That was indeed interesting and did he look just a bit more curious or maybe appraising at Vi now? Gods, was there ever going to be Defence-teacher who wasn’t something else, really? Well, perhaps he simply wanted to not be known as paranoid, he seemed very keen on having a social life, after all. At least he didn’t seem to be a junky or possessed, lacking both a sick aura and a hideous, suspicious turban. His hat was so latest-fashion that it showed off the gold-blond, wavy hair that covered the back of his head to maximum effect.

“Well, Miss Drake, you are of course right. I am researching a rather delicate matter at the moment and thus headed for the library. No need to bother dear Irma about it, I wouldn’t want to turn her stomach, she’s such a dear witch, really.” The practised, dashing smile he threw their way was almost blinding enough to ignore his skilful weave of words and the short sharpness of his cornflower-blue gaze.

“O-oh, yes, of course. We’ll be going then, professor! We wouldn’t want to impose, really..” Amy gushed, having found at last some semblance of her usual eloquence, and everyone went very politely their separate ways.

Well, everyone visible, that was. Edie and Riko shared a look and the new professor for Defence against the Dark Arts gained two silent, invisible shadows tailing him. He did have decent instincts, definitely, pausing and looking around suspiciously the few times they came closer than five feet, but he obviously didn’t expect them, such as they were, and they were plenty experienced at being unnoticed.

It made it plain impossible to find out just what he was researching, however, as he stayed in the card-registry room, making copious notes in much the same manner Riko usually did, with a pencil and in a small notebook. They lingered for a while, but as it got later and later and nothing interesting happened, they decided to go to bed. He was a professor and allowed to research all he wanted, after all, and there didn’t seem to be anything to find out, just then. Vi wasn’t very pleased when she heard of it next morning, but she did agree to their points. Besides, they still had lots to explore, and until there was some hint of anything off about the man it was clearly in their best interest to leave him alone. None of them wanted to attract any trouble, though Riko carefully didn’t say that last loud, in any way.

“Besides, it’s no crime to be sharp, is it, and he has to be, with all the things he’s done, so let’s just leave it at that!” were Amy’s final words on the matter, and they all had to agree to her points.

They were all rather tired during their three periods this day, though luckily their classes were either interesting or harmless or both. Riko had Charms with Vi, then a more sedate Herbology with Edie in Greenhouse two, and after lunch Defence with Vi again. Professor Lockhart didn’t take a register, but he did throw a seemingly casual look around the room until he caught sight of Vi, and Riko beside her, both busy looking innocent and awake. As the lesson started, Riko understood very quickly what Edie had meant about it not being so much a lesson on Defence as on everything you might want or not want to know about the author Gilderoy Lockhart. The test didn’t come as a surprise, but it was still just odd, and Riko could see why people might not take him quite seriously. What she didn’t understand though, was why he was working so hard to promote this view, because that was one thing rather glaringly obvious from the very start.

From his overly dramatic entrance down the stairs that led to his quarters to the overly elaborate way he swished his sky-blue robes, Riko was watching in a sort of amazed confusion. It was as if he was playing a role on a stage and having a grand time of it, too. Small wonder, as it did serve to make everyone fall silent, but still.

Walking along the front row of desks, he picked up Tony’s copy of Travels with Trolls and held it up to show his own, winking portrait on the front. “Me,” he said, pointing at it and winking as well, “Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League and five times winner of Witch Weekly’s Most-Charming-Smile Award – but I don’t talk about that. I didn’t get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!”

He waited for them to laugh; a few people smiled weakly. Riko watched in fascination as he gave them another blinding smile and continued, apparently entirely unfazed by his unenthusiastic audience.

“I see you’ve all bought a complete set of my books – well done. I thought we’d start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about – just to check how well you’ve read them, how much you’ve taken in..”

The rest of the lesson, right down to the covered cage on his desk, was very much what Riko had expected after Amy and Edie’s description. It was also continually, utterly odd. Like watching a continuous yet surreal train wreck, unable to look away but also all the time wondering if there was really a train. Riko witnessed with fascination as he all but goaded her and Vi’s housemates into underestimating both him and the pixies. Having collected the tests, he riffled through them in front of the class, all but begging to not be taken serious as he read some of the utterly ridiculous questions and results out loud.

“Tut, tut – hardly any of you remembered that my favourite colour is lilac. I say so in Year with a Yeti. And a few of you need to read Wanderings with Werewolves more carefully – I clearly state in chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples – though I wouldn’t say no to a large bottle of Ogden’s Old Firewhisky!”

He gave them another roguish wink. Riko saw Macmillan staring at Lockhart with an expression of disbelief on his face; Silvio and Dita, who were sitting in front, were shaking with silent laughter. Tony, on the desk one over, was listening to Lockhart with full attention, and gave a start when he mentioned her name.

“… but Miss Pansy Parkinson knew my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care potions – good girl! In fact..” he flipped her paper over, “full marks! Where is Miss Pansy Parkison?”

Tony raised her hand, regally ignoring absolutely everyone in the room, even him.

“Excellent!” beamed Lockhart. “Quite excellent! Take ten points for Slytherin! And so, to business..”

He bent down behind his desk and lifted a large, covered cage onto it.

“Now – be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizardkind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm.”

Caught in a mix of anticipation and morbid fascination, Riko leaned forward, luring over the cover of the stack of books in front of her. Dita and Silvio had stopped laughing and Draco and his goons were eyeing the cage with a mix of trepidation and scepticism.

“I must ask you not to scream,” said Lockhart in a low voice. “It might provoke them.”

If he was truly repeating the pixie performance he _was_ telling the truth, not that Riko thought he even wanted to be believed. As the whole class held its breath, Lockhart whipped off the cover.

“Yes,” he said dramatically. “Freshly caught Cornish pixies.”

Draco let out a snort of laughter then, which even Lockhart couldn’t mistake for a scream of terror. Luckily it also covered for Riko’s hastily stifled bout of giggles, which earned her a sharp poke in the side from Vi.

“Yes?” Lockhart smiled at the Malfoy heir, and Riko caught a flash of giddy hilarity in his eyes before it was hidden behind naïve indulgence.

“Well, they’re not very dangerous, are they?” Draco smirked.

“Don’t be so sure!” said Lockhart, waggling a playful finger at him. “Devilish tricky little blighters they can be!”

The pixies were electric blue and about eight inches high, with pointed faces and voices so shrill it was like listening to a lot of budgies arguing. The moment the cover had been removed, they had started jabbering and rocketing around, rattling the bars and pulling bizarre faces at the people nearest them. And the thing was, he still hadn’t lied at all, about them; they could be terible buggers, specially if you were a muggle.

“Right then,” Lockhart said loudly. “Let’s see what you make of them!” And he opened the cage.

As Riko had hoped, it was pandemonium. The pixies shot in every direction like fireworks. Two of them seized Gregory by the ears and lifted him into the air, a handful streaked straight through the window, showering the back row with broken glass and making Riko glad for the cover of her books. The rest proceeded to wreck the classroom with a relish that Riko could only applaud. Peeves would be so sad to have missed this event! The pixies grabbed anything not nailed down, throwing it through the air, out the windows, or at students who didn’t take cover fast enough. Riko and Vi had drawn their desk back into the corner and were cowering under it, shaking with uncontrolled laughter whenever they threw a glance at the goings-on.

“Come on now, round them up, round them up, they’re only pixies..” Lockhart shouted. He made a grand gesture of rolling up his sleeves and drawing his wand, brandishing it wildly and bellowed, “Peskipiksi Persternomi!”

Before anyone could be shocked at the lack of effect one of the Pixies raced by, grabbed his wand, and threw it out the window. With a very enthusiastic yelp, Lockhart dived into cover under his own desk. He’d only narrowly avoided being squashed by Gregory, who fell a second later as the candelabra gave way. After sharing a giddy look, Riko and Vi rolled out from under their desk, covering each other as they shot all sorts of hexes and jinxes at the pixies. Amy had told them that freezing charms worked very well, so they avoided using those unless it was necessary to cover their partner. Alice Atuin and Marie Sanson from Hufflepuff seemed to follow a similar strategy and Silvio and Dita were clearly enjoying themselves, too. There was really only one thing to really look out for, and that was the bell that signalled the end of the lesson. At the first sound Riko and Vi made a mad dash for the exit, Accio-ing their bags and things from beyond the door. Then, obscured and still shaking with mostly silent laughter, they hurried to their room where Amy and Edie took one look at their dishevelled appearance and smiled, broadly.

Next day, the brewing of the Polyjuice Potion, while far from easy, worked well enough between the four of them. Besides, they only had to let the first solution settle and then carefully add the lacewings. After that it had to stew without interruption for twenty-one days, which might actually be more difficult than getting the potion-brewing right, if the house elves had included the room in their cleaning list. Hence, after spending the day with the Potion, their usual mix of language-learning, language training and generally entertaining training and shenanigans, interrupted by a short visit to the Great Hall for dinner, Riko made a short visit to the kitchens. Finny, the leader of the local elves, promised to pass the word along, to leave their room and “important school experiment” alone, so that was alright.

It was late night when they at last made for their respective houses so they agreed to meet for lunch instead of their usual early breakfast at the Hufflepuff table. Perhaps it was the only moderately restful week at Vi’s or the accumulated stress of the unexpected and uncommon travel to Hogwarts combined with the energy required to get used to maintaining her student persona, but Riko slept like a stone. When she woke up it was well past breakfast and she was alone in the dorm. After a nice long bath Riko was ready to enjoy the weekend in every way possible, perhaps even ignore the dread homework for Transfig, after all there was still Monday to finish it. Upon collecting with many thanks a bundle of sandwiches and a thermos in the kitchen, she ambled outside, grateful for the lack of people on the way. The corridors were practically deserted as most everyone was wherever they wanted to spend their Saturday, and soon so would she. Stepping through the big oak doors from the Entrance Hall onto the steps, Riko gave a sigh of enjoyment as she felt the warm sun on her face.

Then she noticed the pack of the Gryffindor Quidditch team storming straight in her direction, though luckily busy arguing among themselves. Intent on keeping her good mood and peaceful state of mind, Riko shrunk back around the door and obscured herself. Better this way; she might learn what was going on before it exploded near her or her friends.

“You two clowns better be glad I stopped you,” Wood, their captain, was all but shouting, Riko couldn’t have heard him otherwise, they were still at the start of the steps. Well, considering he was addressing the Weasley twins, it was perhaps understandable. The two of them were impressive makers of all-purpose mischief and not above pranking their housemates.

“In front of witnesses, are you daft, if you’d got him you’d have a member of the school board on your asses! I’d be out of my Beaters quicker’n I could say buy-in!” He was clearly and seriously upset, but he wasn’t alone in that.

“Well, at least we might have wiped that smug face off his overgrown head, that inbred, foul-mouthed twerp! How the bloody hell do you expect us to play against a team on Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones? They’ll blow us out of the sky!”

“Never mind that, there’s bound to be some sort of rule against that! How dare he call her mudblood, to her face, in front of all of us, that stuck-up, inbred worm! I’ll get him, you just wait, I don’t care he’s a sprog, he’s no firsty no more - Angie, Forge, you’re with me right?!”

Sounds of assent mingled with Woods enraged “Alicia! Were you listening to a word I said! Merlin’s arse, shut up, all of you! SHUT UP!”

They had at last reached the Entry Hall and his voice echoed dramatically thought the large, still-empty room. As the echo faded, they were indeed quiet, an impressive feat for upset Gryffs. Wood took a deep breath, all but spearing his team with his look. Well, all but Potter, who wasn’t there, but Riko was ready to regard that as a bonus that kept the situation from going utterly insane. Or at least more insane, those were a bunch of ready-to-explode mane-brained Gryffindors, after all, clearly sanity wasn’t something to count on.

“Now listen up, people,” Wood s voice rang in the silence of the big Entrance Hall. “I’ll talk to McGonagall about the brooms, but I’m not expecting much. Official rules never concern themselves with that sort of thing. So you better get used to the idea and try to come up with ways to adapt, I’ll make sure we get the time on the pitch.”

Seeing their looks of outrage and attempts to speak up, he held up a hand and silenced them with a very McGonagall look. It was scary just to watch, even his voice had exactly her sort of steel in it.

“As for Malfoy’s display, I’ll inform McGonagall, but I think you know we can’t expect much. She won’t take points after the fact on hear-say, and the rest of his team is sure to cover for him.”

From his tone of voice he detested the fact as much as the rest of his team did, but at least he was rational about it. He continued with a stern tone. “You can try and call him out, of course, but you better be careful. They’d like nothing better than to get us caught doing something that’ll lose us points or earn us detention. And Forge, you two better not get caught with any pranks, am I clear? And keep in mind that Granger has pride by the boatload. How do you think she’ll take your acting up? Better sit on it for a while, yet.”

There was some grumbling, but his team seemed to recognize the valid points their captain had made. While she marvelled at the rational approach of the older boy, Riko could feel the blood pounding behind her eyes as they narrowed with anger. Draco. Calling Amy, _her_ Amy, a _mudblood_. After he’d seemingly bought his way onto the team with broomsticks. She was ready to bet he’d play Seeker, too. And of all the things to call her, he had to go with mudblood. He was probably still pissed she’d done so much better in last years exams, nevermind her being Potter’s brains. A physical shiver of rage went down her back. Even Lord Malfoy, who was as obvious about his pureblood beliefs as one could be while still considered polite, would never use that word.

Dirty blood, huh, what did he know, the bloody git. What did any of them know, bunch of damn, blood-fixated idiots. Worse than damn vampires, the lot of them! And he’d called her that in front of at least the two teams and who knew who else. Riko grit her teeth, only vaguely aware of the Gryffindors leaving the Hall. Her mind flew to Amy, who was now who-knew-where, probably off somewhere with Potter and Weasley. Who’d probably use the chance to tell her, again, just how evil all Slytherins were (and _thank_ _you_ , Draco, for painting the house image such a cheerful colour of _pond scum_!). Then a stab of cold fear passed through her at the thought of Amy perhaps being taken in by their arguments. But surely not. Amy was too smart and stubborn for that. And after all they’d done together. Hatching and raising a dragon. The complete beheading of formerly Nearly Headless Nick. The Prank War. Their first big coup, swapping the Philosopher’s stone and sending it back to its owner.

Still, after the horrible consequences of the oath of secrecy last year. And the painful injuries and disgusting trouble with her own house Amy had gotten into after their adventure with Nick. What if she decided to cut her losses while she still could? Amy was brilliant, no doubt about it, and Potter and Ron Weasley had caught on to that and they did have their own adventures to build on. What if..?

Amy didn’t say anything about it, of course, over their lunch at the Hufflepuff table. She didn’t eat much, but when Riko asked if anything was wrong she only said she’d been to Hagrids earlier with Harry and Ron. Riko reminded herself sternly that Amy always called them by their first names but it did little to improve her irritated mood. The afternoon started out rather tense, and it wasn’t just because they’d reluctantly agreed to do their homework, first thing, despite the great weather. Amy had looked a little surprised when Riko had agreed to her demands for this but not made any mention of it and both Edie and Vi had stuck to the same behaviour. It was just odd, and not the good sort, either. But, course decided, they settled into their room, content to work with their own books and notes for now, occasionally commenting or asking each other for confirmation on something.

Then Amy and Edie started making visits to the library via the small side-stairs that led directly to a niche by the entry to Madam Pince’s domain. Edie took two relatively short trips, well, short compared to her usual wandering between the beloved long lines of monstrously big shelves filled with books upon books behind books, but Amy kept at it until she was spending more time away than on her homework, entirely out of character for her. Riko tried to look discreetly at the new books, but Amy kept them in her bag, obviously not using them for her homework.

It had Riko lean back with a sigh, shooting a look at the ceiling that should have by rights led to some plaster falling down. When she looked at her friends they were all regarding her with interest. Amy seemed wary and on the edge to becoming defensive and Riko all but cursed Draco to all the nether regions right then and there, and _Harry and Ron_ , too, just for good measure. Edie and Vi looked both worried, curious, and slightly impatient. It was simply not done, to sit on your temper when something was wrong among the four of them. Playing absently with her glass quill, Riko looked Amy square in the eyes, though it took quite a lot to do so, and keep her voice even and neutral, too.

“I overheard the Gryffindor Quidditch team exploding in the Entrance Hall, earlier. Ranting about Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones and Draco calling you a mudblood.”

The answering silence was deafening, and from the corner of her eyes Riko could see Edie and Vi take deep, silent breaths. They didn’t immediately say anything, however, waiting for Amy’s reaction. Understandably so, one could never be quite sure, beforehand, if Amy wanted to tough it out or would appreciate their support. This time Amy didn’t even seem sure, herself, only sitting back and looking silently at them all, giving a small nod. This wouldn’t do, Riko decided, not at all.

“You know that’s utter bullshit, of course, and that no sane person would ever call you that in earnest,” she started, “It’s probably the only thing he thinks he’s better at than you, which is actually a compliment, if you think about it.”

Perhaps it wasn’t the best way to make anyone feel better, admittedly, but as she was hit by three different stares of disbelief, Riko thought she had at least shaken them up a little. That had to count for something, right?

“And when I say bullshit, I mean complete and utter nonsense, and he surely knows it, himself. Magical folks would’ve died out ages ago if they hadn’t got it on with muggles too. Even the Malfoys, proud as they are of their lineage and pureblood stuff, routinely marry in fresh blood, y’know, avoid the whole trouble that comes with inbreeding. Only witches, ’f course, they lose their old name after all, handy that.”

Amy was biting her lip now, wearing her unreadable thinking-things-through face, and Riko wondered what she could say next. Amy had some muggle-based ballast that would seem very similar, but with how touchy a subject it was, would it be better to not mention it..? Vi’s dry voice relieved her of that immediate worry.

“Yeah, classic that, most families who value their pure-blood status do it, filtering in new blood via younger families. Also has the advantage of their officially superior standing being handed as a favour to the new family member. The Drakes, too, though of course with us it’s the men that lose their old name. The few bloodlines to actually refuse that have pretty much died out by now, like the Blacks or the Gaunts.”

“But that’s..” Amy drew her brows together in a frown, “that’s positively medieval! I mean, honestly, blood-lines! What the hell! It’s like some silly fantasy book..”

Riko had to fight to not smile at that, really, and from the silent clearing of her throat, so did Vi. Edie jumped into the breach, clearly best equipped to handle this with only some understated humour warming her calm words.

“Well, Amy, maybe you forgot, but you _are_ a witch, and the magical community does have quite a lot of rules and customs that are pretty damn old. And they tend to have some reasons, too, though the results are often not exactly logical or even sane.”

“Yes, but still, I mean, bloodlines! What for? I just.. well, I looked through a few older listings and it seems there’s always been a number of muggleborns, but they’ve increased a lot, and you have a Ministry, and newspapers, and all, and it’s just so.. incongruous, really!”

Amy seemed to have honest trouble understanding it and Riko wasn’t surprised. Despite the first, superficial look, Britain’s Magical Community wasn’t really a slightly more Victorian clone to the normal world her friend was used to. It was a tricky thing, especially as no one, including her, damnit, ever seemed to think to explain that properly to the muggleborns.

“Ah, well, I see what you mean. But Amy, you have to understand, that first glance that makes us look like a fairly normal if a bit old-fashioned, insular society, that’s really just the surface. And hey, you know how it is, what is ever..”

“.. just what it seems, alright, Edie, I get it. But how, I mean, where..” Amy raked a disgruntled hand through her mad curls. “Are there any books on this? That actually describe this or explain it or..?” she at last burst out with some desperation.

Riko, who’d started from a different context altogether and still only had a patchy, general understanding of the strings dancing behind the veil of proper society, could only lift her shoulders and look to Vi and Edie. They seemed to think hard, but that was already a rather bad sign. Usually at least one of them could be counted on to name at least two or three books to any subject off the top of their head.

“Well, great then! I’m in a society that has rules and backgrounds I have no decent way of learning, that relies on a steady supply of fresh blood like me but at the same time treats us like second class citizens, including a commonly known derogatory term! A term that, while not used in polite company, is still going to apply to anything I ever do, just because of my family! You think I don’t know systemic when I see it?”

Amy was obviously both distressed and angry now, the two states bound to enhance each other in a vicious circle, and worst of all she was right. If they didn’t act she might well explode and do something very Gryffindor, though Riko had no conceivable idea what. This made the prospect only more scary, though.

“Amy, please,” she tried, thinking furiously. “I mean, at least you know we’re not here for your fresh blood, yeah? We’re not vampires and I dare say none of us will try to marry you! And you can deduce lots from, er, genealogies f’rexample, and we can just try and explain everything, it’s really not that different from things like using the Floo!”

“Like the Floo?! Are you mad? This is a whole set of customs and history and why don’t they teach _that,_ in History of Magic at least, and, you know what, I knew, I _knew_ there was something, but nobody said a damn thing!” Amy was now gesticulating wildly. “Lavender and Parvati just clicked together, and I know Alanna and Jana knew each other already and I thought that was it! And Ron! Ron just said some people think they’re better because of their blood but the rest know it doesn’t make a difference! No difference! Hah!”

And then she thumped the thick book on Transfigs she’d had on her lap viciously down on the table, looking at them with challenge written all over her. It was a little comical, really, though Riko was more worried by far about appeasing her temperamental friend.

“Well, it doesn’t, all that much, if you do it right..” she shrugged. Amy’s eyes were boring into her, immediately, all but screaming one simple word: _Explain!_

Nervously, Riko cleared her throat. “I mean, it’s mostly about connections, lots of witches or wizards, after they’ve, ah, y’know, taken the patronage or name of an old family, go and do really great stuff. And it’s not just about marrying!” she hurried to add, seeing Amy ready to beat her over the head verbally. Luckily, Vi chose that time to come to her rescue.

“Yeah, there’s different sorts of patronage, and of adoption too. Today it’s mostly contacts, and fostering, but that was far more common in the old times, when the muggles were very hostile to magic on account of their religion and stuff. The muggleborns had to stay somewhere, after all, so they were often fostered to magical families. It came out of use once the muggles got over themselves, mostly.”

“Yes, that’s right, though there’s different fosterings and it’s still used, sometimes. Papa has a good friend who is his foster brother, actually. And there’s blood-adoption, too, though that’s always been rare. It actually integrates a person in the adopting bloodline, changing them down to the blood. That’s usually only done if the bloodline’s in danger of ending, though. Or at least that’s what I heard..”

Edie gave a philosophical shrug at the last part. Amy, who had calmed down automatically just by learning new things, furrowed her brow again. “And here we’re back to the bloodlines, already! What the hell? What’s the big deal? It’s just blood!”

Now it was the turn of Riko and the other two to stare at her in disbelief. Flustered, Amy frowned even more, her confusion clearly visible. “What?”

“Blood is pretty much _the_ most potent and volatile catalyst for magic, and it carries most strongly any magics or talents that may be tied to a person or family line. Just think of that unicorn last year, and there’s all sorts of rituals and what-not that use this fact, and there’s some pretty gruesome cases of people trying to get their hands on family secrets by actually stealing someone’s blood.”

Riko listed this all matter-of-factly, thinking both of her own family and the few more interesting stories in the books she’d had Cecile bring her. Oddly enough, it made everyone throw her looks that ranged from carefully neutral to slight worry to wide-eyed and disturbed.

“Yes, well, that’s the more, err, unsettling, side of it. Thanks, Riko,” Edie shot her a look of tolerant amusement, though there was still some worry in her gaze. She shook it off, however, to continue. “The thing is, most old families have certain affinities or spells or even special talents that they jealously guard.”

Uncomfortably clearing her throat, she looked down at her hands. “That’s part of the reason my kind of lycanthrophy is considered Dark, because it gets into the blood and changes it. Usually, the Eohyrdes trend empathy, different aspects of it and such, and we usually have an affinity to healing magics. I don’t, not any more.”

Edie swallowed nervously, still looking down, and Vi quickly jumped into the fray. “Well, that’s speaking very broadly. I mean, the Dark-label has sort of gotten out of hand, specially after the last war and all that. But really, even before that, most all spells that use blood were considered dangerous and it’s just a short step to declare it dark, then.”

Edie looked up then, as if to argue and Amy, although she’d relaxed at the less gore-oriented information, seemed still wary. Vi gave them all a dry smile and continued evenly and with authority.

“Well, admittedly, blood in magic makes it more difficult and more potentially powerful, so if something does go wrong it can be bad. But that’s getting right back to the old argument of why using wands and pre-made spells all the time is safe and easy but not the best way to use magic. There’s always trends and opposing trends about how far from ‘this spell - as in words _and_ wand - produces the same result for everyone’ you can go before people start raving about effects of will-based magic without proper structure or formulae, and with _only will_ as your conduit. The effects of such works vary according to the caster, and their state, y’know, and that’s obviously just not _right_ or _ordered_. I mean, there is potential for trouble there, yes, but just like Incanting, which they did let go of eventually, it’s no reason to declare all things that use blood Dark, that’s just silly.” Vi gave a laconic shrug then, as if to say ‘that’s it on that matter’ and easily turned the subject back to what Amy had actually wanted to know. Riko really wanted to hug her friend, just then.

“Anyway, my father’s family often has an affinity for artistry- or circle-based magic, with a heavy Arithmancy leaning, but that’s apparently rather passed me by. The Drakes are usually very good at Charmwork, specially in the context of wards, which plays out middling well for me,” she shot them all a short smirk and continued with another shrug. “Generally speaking, there’s talents, such as Seers, Orniako, Metamorphmagi, Assessors, Wortmasters and Brewmasters, and so on, and there’s affinities for certain areas or kinds of magic, and then there’s special, secret spells that certain families have developed and continue to improve. Those can often only be performed by members of the bloodline, and not even just because of affinity, but sometimes they can be learned by outsiders, if anyone from the family agrees to teach them.”

Vi answered Riko and Amy’s immediate look of interest with one raised eyebrow and a grin. It seemed she might be willing to teach them some nifty wards, at least that’s what Riko decided to understand and she could all but feel her ears perk up at the though.

The return to the subject also brought Edie back to explain more, which was just one more bonus, really. “So, as you can see, bloodlines actually have some real importance, though of course the way it’s all handled isn’t necessarily the best. The reason why purebloods often look down on muggleborns is because they don’t have that sort of thing. No, but that’s actually a good thing, often.”

Amy, who had looked shocked at the fact she might actually lack something that people like Draco had, was hanging on to Edie’s words. Riko was equally interested, because she hadn’t been aware things were really that anal in regards to magic, at least here. Privately she doubted it applied everywhere, or at least there’d be endless exceptions – this was magic after all – but it was very interesting even so.

“Y’see, while in purebloods the magic has often been sort of refined or coloured or whatever over generations, muggleborns are just born with undirected magic. Now, if pureblood lines mix, that can mean that some talents or affinities are lost, overwritten by the other and the like.”

Amy nodded thoughtfully, though she still didn’t look happy at what she deduced from Edie’s words. Vi jumped in again, with a very dry summation.

“Point is, any affinities or such that muggleborns develop are only due to their own interest and hard work. So you’re actually better off, in regards that you can choose what to excel in and don’t get stuck with an affinity that you don’t care for.”

Amy looked greatly relieved at that. But Vi wasn’t finished, yet. “That’s also the problem regarding the bloodlines, of course. In about half the cases of a muggle or muggleborn breeding with a pureblood, the child’s magic is also unaffiliated. Which also leads to lost affinities and talents, and that’s part of, or the official reason many purebloods shy away from it.” So far her voice had been mostly normal, but now her dry tone took on a mocking edge. “Better breed with a half-blood, they think, that way the stronger, purer blood will out. Bunch of crap, actually, even leaving aside the whole mess of class and factions, but never mind. After all, the half that don’t end up unaffiliated is that much more likely to show old, potentially overwritten talent. Almost like no one cares to actually look rationally at the whole breeding thing..”

Vi gave another laconic shrug, and Riko couldn’t help it. She laughed. Their surprised looks didn’t help in stopping it. A few startled moments later, they were infected, too. After a few minutes of trying to catch themselves, interrupted by any of them giving a moo or bark or meow and the resurging laughter following it, they relaxed.

“Honestly, breeding plans.. who’d ’ve thought. No wonder many of them seem so pinched and.. anal,” Amy grinned.

“Heh, yeah, well, that’s just the sort of stuffiness Da didn’t care for. Though that was also to do with his family being, well, mental, obviously,” Riko winked. “Lot of good it did them, seeing how obviously I favour Ma’s colours.”

“Well, I dunno..” Vi drawled with a grin. “You seem plenty mental to me, almost all the time!”

Her tone was light-hearted and without doubt she’d meant it as an easy joke, like they usually traded to lighten the mood. Still, Riko had to lean back her head with a huff she hoped sounded more like laughter than the tense snarl she’d held back. Staring at the ceiling, again, she quickly took a deep breath and looked back at her friend.

“Nah, that’s my mothers side, too,” she said lightly, taking care to shoot her friend an apologetic smile. She knew the look in her eyes was not very reassuring a that moment. “I know when I discolour-charm about I can look a lot like Da, but that’s all. He’s always joked he was reborn when he left and I won’t have anything of them in me, think I’ll burn first.”

There was a moment of silence, and Riko blushed with embarrassment. Bollocks, when the entire bloody point was to get the conversation back to safe waters, helping Amy to kick ass in this society of stuffiness. As much as she’d let them, anyway.

“Eh,” she shrugged, hastily drawing on some of her hair to tuck it back behind her ear. “I’ll dig around for some books to deduce from, and anyway, that whole stuffiness isn’t something you have to worry about, Amy.”

“’S right, Amy,” Vi said seriously, after shooting an apologetic look at Riko. “We can add some sort of society part to our languages, good as subject, yeah, or, well, you’ll just ask us anything as it comes up anyway, right?”

“Right,” Amy nodded resolutely, clearly relieved.

“Alright then, enough homework for today, I’d say, right?” Edie jumped in with a cheerful smile and her best ‘managing the kids’-tone.

“Yay! Training, already! Let’s go!” Riko jumped up, itching with nervous energy waiting to be released. “German after dinner alright? We’ve been sitting still forever! We can practice French while training, right?”

“Pf, you just want to learn more insults, admit it,” Vi teased her, clearly careful of her words, now.

“’Course! You come up with the nicest things while you’re trying to hit me,” Riko grinned at her. “Come on, already!”

She’d already stuffed her things roughly into her bag and was jumping up and down on tip toes.

“Alright, already,” Vi mock-groused, standing, but there was a slightly hesitant note in her voice. Amy and Edie also looked slightly unsure, as if arguing with themselves if they wanted to interfere. What the hell?

Then, as Vi carefully moved her bag under the couch to where Riko had kicked her own rucksack just moments ago, checking her wand-holder with a routine that showed her experience, Riko understood. Her hard-earned experience. Oh. Oh, she really was an idiot. Well, at least she was a well-meaning idiot and hopefully Vi would appreciate the chance to relax that Riko was actually offering now.

Plastering an even bigger smile on her face, not even that much of a mask, really, as she was looking forward to their game herself, Riko ticked the small seal and jumped up on the wall. Perching there much like Spiderman would, she showed her empty hands with a flourish. “Alright then, hit the snow ball in hell, round one!”

The grin Vi shot her after a short, confused moment was fierce and Riko answered instinctively with the same expression. She could hear Edie’s fond “Oh dear, let’s leave them to it” only in passing, as the Ravenclaw drew Amy to the office for their own, probably less insane training. All her senses were focussed on Vi. Her friend was a damn genius in shooting spells every which way, you could never count on watching only her wand or shoulders or hands or even eyes or footwork. Consequently, it turned into a very entertaining afternoon. Vi obviously enjoyed chasing Riko all over the place, playing at herding her this way or that, trying to outmanoeuvre her. Riko, on the other hand, had quite a time of it, evading everything shot her way with the craziest moves imaginable, jumping around like a mad bouncing ball. After a while she started to shoot wandless Calcars to head off some of the spells fired her way, to not get flattened entirely in too short a time. Vi took to the change with a laugh that eased Riko’s nerves of possibly at least the last few months, letting her own laughter bubble forth easily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The views in this chapter on "what is dark and what is not" or "what does dark even mean" are not entirely correct in the academical sense, but Vi is just Vi, even if this means she knows rather a lot. They aren’t wrong, either, it’s just not the arena to untangle that mess of views and facts and myths, I thought. My views, on which this-all is after all based, are awfully similar to potionpen’s, in case anyone is ever interested, so you can read any of her brilliant works or just ask me here, whatever.. =)


	8. Pride and Projects

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, rarely but definitely sometimes, an excess of bottling-up can lead to unfortunate eruptions, and then everyone has to live with the awkward after, on account of stubborn also being, sometimes, not the very best thing to be. But, well.. life does go on, as long as the world doesn´t end, and it´s definitely far too early for that, they have, all of them, far too much to do after all.. =)

They were all of them ready and willing to go down to the Great Hall by dinnertime, which was such a rare thing they couldn’t help but grin at each other conspiratorily on the way. They were in a fine mood and easily able to ignore any curious looks sent their way, at their occasional moo or bark or meow, trying to make each other laugh while eating. It did bring the matter of Draco and his damn insult back to Riko’s mind though, as did having Draco in view on her own house table. Resolutely, Riko put the matter to the back of her thoughts, where it could stew and steam without overly impairing her mood.

Still, when she at last made her way down to the dungeons, quite some time after official lights-out, Riko’s temper rose again. Well, better put, the cauldron-full of temper she’d put into the back of her mind had continued to boil and fume on its own, and the results weren’t pretty. There was after all, beside the tactical problem united front presented in this, also the matter of Cynthia, at the very least. Riko didn’t _do_ much with her, but they did share a room and she was in their year and she was muggleborn, too. Draco couldn’t just go around spouting that word without insulting her, too. Not to mention that it really was the most disgusting and idiotic thing to call anyone! Never mind that Professor Snape, his own spellfather, was officially loath of the word and, despite his dislike of any ‘uncouth’, aka muggle-style behaviour, deemed it unfit for decent company. Which, small wonder, not like he was listed as old blood. And anyway, insulting someone’s, any one’s blood, how dare he! Next he’d start harping on the Sorrentinos or Em or even Zabini, even if his father wasn’t a muggle but a muggleborn. The gall! The fucking nerve, it was those damn Slyvers all over again, how the bloody, hah, fuck dare he..

“ _Come … come to me..”_  

Riko nearly stumbled into a suit of armour as she wheeled about at the echoing, sibilant whisper. Or had she really heard that? Was it perhaps just imagined? She halted, carefully looking around, her train of angry internal, well, admittedly it was ranting, completely derailed.

“ _Let me.. let.. tell.. tear.. kill.. tell you..”_

Riko stood stock still at the sheer power in the words. Her fingers, though, had already performed the small seal for her sonar. But there was nothing odd around, even at the extended range she’d pushed it to. She took a tense breath, listening again. 

Nothing, utter silence all around her. After a while, Riko had to breathe again. The only now noticed tension in her muscles and other symptoms of sudden fight-readiness seemed not only useless, combined with her returning foul mood they left her looking for a fight, any sort of fight. And it didn’t look like she was going to get one, here. Against what, after all? Nothing was around. It had only been an odd echo, the cause was most likely one of the ghosts. Sound carried oddly in the corridors of the dungeons. Or it could’ve been Peeves, trying to play a prank, or.. well, it hardly mattered. She had things to do, places to be.

It was only a few bends of corridor to the lair, but when Riko stomped into the antechamber, her temper had not improved from the thunderstorm-in-a-kettle stage, her blood all but boiling with undirected anger. Well, mostly undirected, she was after all still hacked off at Draco. Now, considering how short-lived Riko’s temper usually was, things might have turned out much differently indeed if the Malfoy heir hadn’t still been sitting in the common room. As it was, however, Draco had much the same effect as a lightning rod.

There was hardly any one around for it, what with the start-of-term do at the Hufflepuff Den, and none of the prefects, so of course the rumours flying around by the next day were outrageous and utterly insane. Most claimed Riko had accosted Draco, accusing him of being a vampire, or a blood-traitor, or even a blood-mage. Tales varied even more about the rest of the confrontation and its results, as the two hadn’t obliged to stay in the common room for the sake of their audience.

What did happen was that Draco, utterly focussed on a drawn-out game of Slytherin’s Wizarding Chess against Tony, had absolutely no warning, barely even time to register Riko’s very direct approach, before getting slapped with a charge of cackling, erratic energy right in the face. She did say, or rather spit, something like “Bloody blood-obsessed jackass!” which didn’t make much sense to anyone, just then.

The small table had been overthrown, the game and its loudly complaining pieces scattering will-nill in the vicinity. Draco himself had also landed on the floor, mostly from shock, certainly, as he’d sat in one of the chairs, across the couch Tony had claimed. Riko hadn’t put that much whomp in it, seriously. She was, however, still in complete confrontation mode and, though she only noticed it now, actually trailing angry currents of magical energy, a bristling aura that had her hair sing with static. She had also, likely some time after locking onto her target, dropped into quicktime, meaning she was absolutely and all kinds of ready when the only slightly less flabbergasted Tony immediately reached for her wand. Riko’s wand was at the ready in a fraction of the time and aimed to make sure she could hex either Tony or Draco into next week at the slightest twitch.

“Don’t,” was all she said, before taking a deep breath, trying to reign in at least the excess energy that was making her hair all but stand on end. It took a moment, and she kept a cold, hard look on her two targets. The difference to her usual easy-going manners unnerved them enough to pause, her eyes narrowed to angry slits, even if her voice was tightly controlled and even. 

“Sorry, Tony, but this is between me and Draco. Don’t worry, I’m not about to kill him,” she gave them a sharp smile and noted with some satisfaction their reaction.

Tony raised an eyebrow, and then hand, lightly to show she wouldn’t go for her wand, and Draco was still gaping at her like fish. Both were paler than usual despite their game faces. Riko lowered her wand slightly but kept it ready just in case Tony decided to change her mind and fixed most of her attention on Draco.

“We,” she all but hissed, the anger still pushing and crackling inside her, “we are going to have words now.”

And in one fluid movement she bent down and grabbed his forearm, drawing him up and after her. In the first moment he was too shocked to resist, but then he did try to draw back. After a sharp, warning squeeze of her fingers, placed exactly where they had direct access to the nerves running along his arm, he stopped that fast, giving an angry, pained hiss himself. Riko ignored it, heading towards the corridor down to the small maze of unused, often windowless rooms, dragging him after her. As expected he didn’t care to have his arm in rather excruciating pain and also didn’t know how to get out of the grip.

Once they were through the door of a random room, Riko checking with her sonar if there was anyone around on pure paranoid instinct, she let go, pushing him past her, inside. They’d been silent on their hasty way and Riko kept her wand trained on him while she threw some basic wards Ma had taught her, painfully long ago, at the door. The sharp, unasked-for memory made Riko grit her teeth and feed it to her anger instead of letting it turn into pain or sadness. It turned the air around her electric again and didn’t help her temper any, that she had so damn little control right now. She was just about to ready to spit nails or blow something up, and the very fact of that only served to piss her off even further.

Draco was ready to end something, himself, it seemed. He had a hand on where she’d gripped his arm and there were still traces of pain on his face, which obviously only served to feed his anger. He’d drawn himself up like his namesake snake, staring at her with cold grey eyes of sharp rage, no trace of shock or fear to be seen.

“How dare you..” he started to hiss, but Riko cut him off ruthlessly.

“How dare _I_? Oh, that’s a good one, you bloody ass, could you be more of a thick-headed, manner-less swine if you tried? And don’t you dare try and act all innocent – I don’t care about your privates but Professor Snape is your spellfather, you know his thoughts on this. We have muggleborn in our own house, in our _year_ , she’s worked with you on Binns’ bullshit _**and**_ Transfigs often enough and you have nothing better to do than go and call people mudblood _on the fucking_ _ **Pitch**_?!”

Riko had let her wand-arm relax when Draco made no move no draw his own but she still kept it in hand, arms stiff with anger, hands curled into fists to try and keep her rage in. It helped only moderately as she was yelling by the end of her short tirade. She didn’t know what she had expected, really, but as she grit her teeth again and drew a breath to try and calm down, just a little, Draco’s reply only served to undermine her efforts at grasping even the barest thread of civility.

He paused only a moment before drawling in a far-too-satisfied voice. “Ah, I see, so Granger ran to cry to you after taking care of her incompetent Weasley slug. Shouldn’t a Gryffindor have the guts to at least try to fight her own fights? Seeing how you have no problem attacking a housemate, I’m sure you could’ve let her in to do it herself..”

The sheer amount of bullshit and idiocy almost sent Riko over the edge. It was only the coldest, most vicious parts of her that held back her more fiery side from starting an escalation that might well have ended in bloodshed. One eye twitching with the effort of holding back her rage, Riko coiled it all into a tight ball, pushing it down into stores that were already quite full. Following the ingrained of memory of long, black, billowing robes and sharp, even darker eyes, she stepped closely into his personal space. When she spoke, she could hear the sneer and cold, sharp anger of her own head of house, her eyes all but shooting daggers at her opponent.

“No, you witless gnome, I was in the Entrance Hall when the Gryffindor team stormed in, obviously just after your idiotic public performance and I have _ears_. And if you think I attacked you, you are indeed more of an idiot than I would’ve ever thought possible of the son of Lady Narcissa and Lord Malfoy. Who, I might add, is able to act reasonably and with deliberation about his views. Fuck, your own spellfather actively resents the word, and he’s our damn head-of-house! You know perfectly well the values of our house and also what they officially _don’t_ include! What sort of image for Slytherin are you dragging up here, huh? So, go on, tell me, Draco, did you forget all about the matters of history, and of your own housemate, and house, or was it a deliberate insult to those, as well?” 

It had obviously been the right way to handle the matter, as Draco rocked back slightly and a small sliver of satisfaction warmed Riko’s inside, letting some of the pressure dissipate. It added to her focus, too, giving her a better feel on how to use her words like so many different knives. But even as it was efficient in cutting back against Draco, putting him on the defence, it did nothing to better his mental capabilities to see her valid points, the bloody git.

“I didn’t call Cynthia a mudblood and I see no reason for her to assume I would. Besides, blood does matter! And what business is it of mine if the Gryffindors are bunch of screaming idiots, carrying tales all over the school?”

Riko all but growled at his stubborn refusal to see the point. “You don’t have to say it to her face for her to get your meaning! She knows her parents are muggles, how do you think she, or any of ours, like you using their fact of fucking birth as an _official insult_?! Never mind the rest of the school!”

“And who made you their champion, huh? If they have a problem they can speak up any time! So how about you stop butting into other people’s matters, ’cause I really don’t see any reason for you to act like some crazy blood traitor, defending this or that poor-blooded victim!”

The matter might have ended there with just a little chagrin and grumbling on both sides if, oh, if only Draco hadn’t used that exact word. It was clear he was mostly defensive on principle and to keep up appearance and he probably wouldn’t have felt the need to use the original insult again in a hurry. And, well, Riko wasn’t one to fly off the handle, usually, so she was feeling maybe just a little defensive about attacking him like that earlier. It wasn’t even just the word, really, it was the context, just, all of it.

It wasn’t a common occurrence, but Riko had heard that word a number of times already, under people’s breath and vicious, while scouting last year, for example, and those people she had been very sure to avoid, no matter at whom they’d directed it. No need to attract attention. That’d been that. And occasionally it was thrown around, only in the lair or company and more in jest, far less edged then, but still charged. But this.. oh, wow, this was just too close..

Because this was _Draco_ , and he _knew_ , shite , they weren’t _close_ close, but his father was her spellfather and they’d always been at least friendly-ish, and for someone like that, not-really-but-still-sort-of-family, to attack her with that, _that_ bloody damn word, with _that_ damn context..

Riko’s last remains of calm evaporated in searing-bright, ice-cold fury, eating through any remains of civility, restraint, or rationality like foaming acid. Last time she’d heard _that_ word, used _that_ way, she hadn’t even been seven yet, her home around her a burning ruin and she scared and hiding between her parents. Parents she hadn’t seen again since and still missed with painful intensity. A vicious flash of memory brought back the smell of smoke, dust, and ozone of that night. Draco badly misread her reaction then, not realizing just how sharp the pain in her eyes was as she stiffened, the real shock and fright that let them widen before they narrowed in seething rage as her fac closed to blank. Or maybe it was because once angered the King Cobra wouldn’t, couldn’t just leave it. He’d scored a point and he was only too happy to keep at it, put them on more of what he might think to be equal footing. He might as well have poured water into a cauldron of burning fat.

“Chip on your shoulder, or something, huh?” he sneered proudly, viciously, drawing himself up even further, “Montague blew up just as much when Bole called him a mudblood today in training, and he does have a muggle grandfather, fancy that..”

He was obviously going to continue, but Riko didn’t care for one more word out of his mouth. The only reason she didn’t draw her fang was her wand still warm and ready in her right hand. Instead, she pressed her wand tip against the hollow of Draco’s throat, silencing him with a look that promised murder.

“If you ever call me, or anyone else, _that_ again,” her voice was deadly cold now, “I will end you and any one who ever _knew_ you. Because, you see, the last person who thought they had the right to call any one, much less my father, a blood traitor, y’knew who that was..?”

Draco drew a sharp breath then, perhaps realizing just what was going on, but Riko was beyond caring. She continued in a calm, even voice that carried homicide.

“That was my paternal grandfather, the esteemed Janus Slyver. And you know what, I think you’re right. I may have bit of a chip on my shoulder about the fact that Da’s own damn family made a spirited attempt at killing him, and Ma, and me, and exploding our _home_ in the process..”

She kept advancing, the tip of her wand all but vibrating with excess energy, making Draco swallow drily and very carefully, retreating until he felt the wall against his back. Riko only noticed this vaguely, through a fog of swirling rage, her teeth bared and her eyes flat and deadly.

“But you know what? He and the rest of his blood-obsessed family? They’re all dead now. And yeah, you’re right, that means I have an issue with people going on about other people’s blood-status. And you know what else?” She shot him a cold, murderous grin that was all teeth, taking a vicious delight in wielding her words like knives, the way she knew would strike truest. “At least both Montague and I know who our grandparents are, so maybe, just maybe, you should have a look if you might find a little something on your own shoulder. Cause I sure don’t know much reason for you to go on about any one’s grandfather..”

Draco’s sharp intake of breath only served to broaden her sharks grimace, enjoying the way his eyes widened, then narrowed as it sank in.

“Yeah, s’right, got to be reason good ol’ Druella never said a word, eh? So in your own interest I’d recommend you go and try to _die_ in a fucking _fire_ , in your own _bloody_ _ **house**_ , _**and if that doesn’t work out for you then we can talk afterwards, when you’ve**_ _ **got the least inkling of even trying on anyone’s shoes**_ _ **!”**_

She’d started in a slow, deliberate drawl, all Snape murder spree, but by the end of it she wasn’t just yelling, she was screaming with blood-curling hatred, shaking with fury. Small electric discharges danced around her and silvery sparks were trailing from her wand as she gesticulated with it. But the part that made it just too damn fucking much was that she felt tears, bloody thrice-damned, useless tears prick in her eyes. The mix of rage and hurt and no little amount of self-loathing at losing control so damn spectacularly sent her fleeing the scene with a yelled ‘ _ **Fuck off!**_ ’, so mad she couldn’t even see straight.

Ripping through her own wards like a fireball through spiders web, Riko threw the door open with a yank and a curse. It crashed against the wall, the echo chasing her as she tore away along the corridor, away from the common room where she knew there would still be people. Especially now, after she’d given them a prospect for some entertainment. Fuck it to all the hells and back! She snarled and punched the wall of the small, cavernous room she’d ended up in, nothing in it but walls of living rock and some small stones on the ground. It hurt. She repeated it, but it didn’t do anything except hurt her hand more. With a hissed curse she turned and leaned back against the cold stone, sliding down until she was sitting, staring hatefully at the still-open door.

Stilling the shaking of her hands and taking some deep breaths, she kept looking at it. After counting to twenty in all of the languages she could manage it, she rose slowly, closing the door and obscuring it from anyone who might come along to look for her. Hunking down again, her back against the door, Riko tried to clear her mind. She knew herself well enough to avoid thinking of what had happened just now. Better to wait until she’d actually calmed down. Better to distract herself, letting her temper even out on its own and perhaps even do something useful in the mean time. Not that there was much around. Riko heaved a sigh and went through the content of her pockets. The most promising thing was the letter from Uncle Kal, so she first did a small routine of clearing her mind of thoughts by recounting all the runes of the futhark, then she put the sugar quill that had been in the same pocket to good use and then she started on her uncle’s riddles.

The sugar quill was long gone when Riko sat back with a sigh that turned into the fifth giant yawn in what had to be less than ten minutes. Taking out her small digital watch, Riko wasn’t much surprised. It was going on three. Stretching, she wondered what best to do now. She was still keeping this evenings.. mishap firmly form her thoughts, but the question if she wanted to curl up here or sneak back to her bed needed an answer. Heaving another tired sigh, she rose and decided to give it a try. Any interested parties would have cleared away to their beds by now, surely. Even if anyone was coming back from the do at the Hufflepuff’s right _then_ they’d be easily avoided. Still, as Riko ghosted back, obscured and with activated Demon Eyes, she felt as jumpy as if she was infiltrating unknown territory. Which was plain ridiculous, these were her house dormitories, after all.

Riko did not sleep well that night, even though she’d drawn her curtains closed and put just about every kind of ward that she knew around the bed. It wasn’t that she dreamed, because she didn’t, at last as far as she could remember. But when she at last groggily opened her eyes, her sheets were a tangled mess, her pillows were scattered about wildly, and she was again close to falling out of her own, damn big bed. At least her sonar showed that the room was empty of other people, as was the bathroom. Riko was glad of the chance to avoid everything for just a little longer, looking at her watch. If she hurried she might even catch some remains of breakfast in the Great Hall and properly apologize to her friends for being late.

By the end of the day, Riko had regained her usual easy-going nature, thanks to her fantastic friends and avoiding all contact with any of her housemates. Following Hagrid into the Forbidden Forest and meeting a playful, enthusiastic Fluffy had helped lots, too. It was plain impossible to not get drawn in with two such massive hounds as Fang and him around. Having three heads at his disposal, be it for happy drooling, barking, or puppy-eyes, Fluffy was the perfect demonstration of the principles of exponential versus simply multiplied growth of effects. (Amy’s words, of course, she was such a dear swot, actually so interested in what she was missing from muggle school that she had taken books on it along and was pestering them with it, too!)

Riko had also worked hard at rebuilding her usually far more reliable self-control. Seriously, she couldn’t just go and explode at anyone who said some distasteful word. She could plan to utterly ruin and perhaps even maim or kill anyone who did that to her face, sure, or in her hearing range, but it was simply bad form to have such a glaring trigger to her temper. Besides, as she’d told Amy ages ago, if she’d start to plan the doom of everyone who was a stupid society-brainwashed pureblood git, she’d never get anything else done. She had to focus, that was it. While she could easily ignore the whispering and looks of the few present people when she returned, again very late, to the Slytherin lair, it was less easy to do, by far, over all of Monday morning.

But outside the Lair it was all united front and she had all her classes doubled with one of her friends, so it really wasn’t any sort of problem. When in the evening Riko found that as soon as she sat near anybody from her year they became very quiet, she did feel something like annoyance. But what the hell did she care, seriously, Riko thought grumpily as she sat down in a more secluded corner on her own. She could do her homework herself well enough, thank you very much, and hanging out with her housemates wasn’t that much of a treat anyway. Mostly, she only ever interacted with her yearmates, and not that often, either; her supposed talent for invisibility hadn’t become a running joke in the Lair all by itself. It might get a bit tiresome during meals, but at least she’d have ample time for her projects and she still wasn’t finished with the letter from Uncle Kal. Obscured, she took a look around, watching the developments with some absent interest. She realized she wasn’t even sure what the current rumours on the situation were and heaved a silent sigh.

Keeping up her covered surveillance over the next few days was only mildly interesting, though it did give her a better feel for the situation. Draco was coldly and very obviously furious with her, though he refused any comment on the matter to the few who dared or bothered to ask him. That was hardly surprising, Riko had done exactly the same when Farley asked her. Tony had been there for the start of it and of course took the side of what for all points and purposes was her little brother, despite her being exactly two months younger. Well, alright, Riko had interrupted their game, and held her at wand-point, too. And she didn’t really take Draco’s side exactly, be it because Riko had added that apology or any other reason, because in that case Riko would’ve been in deep shit.

As it was, Pansy Parkinson was cool and polite in a way that showed her disapproving discontent at the entire situation. Riko didn’t take the invitation though, for too many reasons she was too embarrassed to dwell on. Better to leave Cera out of this, there were too many layers on which it might turn into an actual, serious mess, otherwise. Apparently Draco thought the same, which was a relief. It didn’t stop Riko from secretly reworking and improving her wards and checking her environment for casual dangers even more than usual, but it was nice she didn’t need to go entirely overboard. Not that she would, really, some sigils to repel this-or-that were alright, and it was only smart to check socks or shoes and the like before sliping in blind, but really, you didn’t want to carry too much warding around on you anyway. Firstly there was the chance of cross-reactions and effect-bleedings if you weren’t completely informed on _everything_ , which, hah, no chance, they didn’t even have Runes or Arithmancy yet! And secondly it would make it easier for people to sense you, not even just by magic detection but also the normal fine-hair senses of anything being around, if they used them. So, yes, careful overhaul but focus on careful.

Gregory and Vincent, or as Riko took to call them in her head Vingory, of course stood unfailingly, if cluelessly, with Draco, as well. The rest of her yearmates, not knowing what was even going on exactly and wary of the clearly visible wrath of the Malfoy heir and clear disfavour of the Parkinson heir or the combination with Vingory’s sets of spontaneity, cautiously resolved to stay out of the matter. Especially because Riko made no move to try and ally herself with anyone and also refused any comment when Farrah in a very deliberate move sat by her one evening to chat. On Charms, supposedly, and on how Riko should perhaps spend more time in company (aka proper Slytherin company) to keep up with it all. On how Professor Snape didn’t go through all the trouble of proper house management only for students to dismiss it by gallivanting about instead of being grateful and receptive.

Not to be rude, but it really was no business of Farrah’s, and Riko was perfectly fine as was. Professor Snape’s addressing of certain issues, be it per year, other group, or entirety of house, were usually things that should be bloody self-evident already, and if not then they were easily deduced from watching the goings-on. Of course she usually had Tony to tell her, which, hah, but she’d just have to pay attention for herself, wasn’t that hard. Just be present a bit more, no need to be visible for it after all. Listlessly stabbing her scrambled eggs during Wednesday breakfast, Riko absently wondered how it had got so out of hand. Well, alright, it was less wondering and more chagrined grumbling.

After all, if she hadn’t blown her gasket quite so spectacularly, and over a stupid freaking voice in the corridor, bloody shite. In the bright light of morning it seemed even more far-fetched to have been frightened by a whisper with no source. She really needed to get her shit together. There might not be any changing her fright-smash instinct, but that meant she had to get more rational about getting frightened. Seriously, even the least measure of rationality would’ve stopped from having a go at Draco, clearly she had to stock up there. Fine, plan made. Then, with a listless sigh, she thought if there was a nice, elegant way to resolve this drama or if she should just wait it out. Draco couldn’t stay mad forever, could he? She really didn’t feel like apologizing, even if she did regret her wording and lack of restraint. And she spent enough time with her friends, anyway.

“Oi, Riko, alright?” Vi asked in that very moment, eyeing her with some worry, though she tried to hide it by flicking some toast crumbs at her. Hah, with such friends, how could she not be alright? Riko shot her a quick grin.

“’Course, I always am!” Waving her fork in a negligent gesture she continued quickly. “Yesterday was just the worst, seriously, who came up with that timetable? Double McGonagall, then Double Binns, and then Sinistra in the bloody middle of the night! It’s a nightmare! I hate Tuesdays, there should be laws against them!”

Vi gave her a dry, eyes-only smile at the words, drawing up one eyebrow to show she was letting Riko off the hook despite knowing something was up. But she did let it go, which was very good of her, so Riko gave her a grateful smile and continued eating with more vigour. Soon as Amy and Vi had trotted off towards Herbology Riko busied herself and Edie with preparations for Amy’s birthday, which was only about a week away. It fell on a Saturday, which was really great. Less great was the fact of the coming full moon, which would make Edie miss this Friday’s lessons and the entire Saturday, too. Still, there was nothing to be done, so no one made any mention of it. Riko was proud Edie hadn’t even tried to stop them from following her to the Shrieking Shack this time. She only had to take notes for Edie in one subject, Herbology, and she was only too glad to make sure in person that nothing bad happened to Edie, this time.

Well, nothing worse than days of insanely hyper-sensitive senses and turning, in the most painful and injuring way imaginable, into a slavering monster bent on tearing itself apart. Losing time in lessons and having to hide it all, to boot. But Riko was working on that, at least. Or rather, admittedly, she intended to work on it, as soon as she got the chance, but that was practically the same. If only the teachers could stop giving out what seemed to be twice as much homework as last year, k'so! Riko spent the celebrations of the autumn equinox well out of sight of everyone, digging through tomes, which was just.. wrong!

At least the Polyjuice was coming along nicely. By the end of September it was done and they could ladle the treacle-thick stuff into a number of glass vials. After it cooled it looked like nothing so much as thick, dark mud, though its consistency was finer and more oily than Riko had ever seen in any sort of mud. They’d agreed to hide it in their room, obscured on top of one of the very high shelves, to avoid the risk of it being found in any one persons possessions. They’d also agreed to only add Edie’s hair straight before they were going to use it, for the same security-related reason. A test-run had shown that it worked perfectly fine and that the effect lasted for about an hour. Edie started to keep her curtains closed early, to get her housemates used to it.

Even with those signs of progress, it was really frustrating to have all sorts of boring, standard spells and potions to learn when you were carrying around a stack of Transfiguration lexicons just trying to find a list of ways for turning people into animals. Not to mention the books on healing charms and such Riko was continually lugging around. Considering how slow the going was on the Transfiguration side of things, Riko thought the healing had priority. This way they could be at least some sort of help until they found what they were looking for and besides, they’d have to make sure she was alright later, too.

Riko hardly noticed the tense mood in her house any more, so busy was she with her own projects. Draco showed absolutely no signs of becoming less furious with her, lowering her own readiness to make any sort of apology to the great git. Montague and Bole, both in fourth year, continued to be at each others throats, which was a nice distraction but Riko paid little active attention to it. Her routine of covert observation was at the bare minimum she needed to feel reasonably safe. Beyond that, Riko cared little to nothing about her housemates doings. It was a vexing discovery just how helpful and relaxing they had been last year, just by being around to see or hear what they were doing, even more so because she only realized it now that things were different. But Riko had decided that fiddling on this issue was more effort than the result was worth and she stuck to that.

After all, she did get her own things done, if a little less quickly, and she also had more important things to do than get involved into the damn inner politics of her house. Sooner or later it’d go back to her free trading of notes and solutions, anyway, once this shit had blown over. And even if it was irritating and the tension sort of annoying, she’d be damned before she let that stop her from sitting in her own damn common room. Riko leaned back with a grumpy, distracted sigh from the thick Transfigs lexicon in front of her, tiredly rubbing her eyes. It was the first Monday of October and there were just a few too many things occupying her mind, looming up and clamouring for attention, for planning and doing, to properly concentrate on the dry and probably intentionally incomprehensible text.

Next weekend they’d polyjuice-impersonate Edie the first time. Well, really only one of them, and they hadn’t decided who it would be, too. And tomorrow was again Tuesday, damn it all, and she hadn’t gotten to test the actual casting of the more advanced Antheraliptis charm (for warmth and easing of muscle-pains, should be very helpful both after their trainings, for Edie, and Amy too when she killed her neck and shoulders via lbrary, great addition to the usual massaging of specific muscle areas and all that) and this damn text just plain sucked, no two ways about it. And why was someone sitting across form her, on her table, watching her?

It was probably a boy, Riko thought, from the robes, and he looked younger so he had to be a first year. In fact, he looked positively tiny and was quite thin. With his pale skin and the straight, dark hair falling into his dark eyes and around his ears, he looked a little like the drowned page from a story Yoko had told her once. Riko pushed the thought away with some annoyance. He startled at her look, but beside looking distinctly uncomfortable, he gave no direct reaction to her look or questioningly raised eyebrow.

“..Yes?” Riko inquired after a few moments in admittedly not her most charming voice.

Even in her not-quite-genial mood, she felt a bit of a heel, then. The boy looked even more unsure and shy at her tone, but valiantly made to introduce himself at last.

“Theodore Sotirios Nott,” he hastily rose to give her a bow, sitting just as quickly, all but stumbling over the words “at your service.”

This really didn’t tell Riko very much, well, except his name of course and that he clearly wanted something or other from her. Consequently she did not rise or even nod, instead studying him more closely as she gave him a short “Riko Slyver, as I assume you already know.”

“Erm, yes,” he nodded, looking again supremely uncomfortable.

Riko felt some definite stirrings of impatience then, as he paused again. She was glad she hadn’t crossed her arms, of course, and she told herself sternly she hadn’t been doing anything really productive just now anyway, but it was still not easy to summon up her usual interest and amount of attention for such a situation. As in, a situation with a previously unknown person with unknown goals. Two unknown variables, which at long last drew up some of her usual curiosity and playfulness, though the weight of annoyance and distractedness was loath to just disappear, like a thick layer of dust or snow.

But Riko wasn’t going to accept any more talking-back from her own bloody temper, so once she decided to pull her head out her ass, she did it with ruthless efficiency. It helped, definitely, to actually want to take in everything around her, now, not just her general mood but also in recognizing the effect of some background input she’d all but ignored so far. The weather was miserable, cold and damp. Riko thought this was at least the fourth day of nothing but heavy rain, which of course never improved any one’s mood. Also, she was sitting by one of the small tables directly by a corner window and one of the reasons it had been free was that it’s magic didn’t work properly. It was letting in cold, damp air from the lake even when the charmed glass was active, nice in summer but not right now.

After all the use of last year Riko’s warming charms came so easily that she hardly remembered having cast one earlier. Theodore, however, had obviously not learned them yet, and was made even more uncomfortable by the sounds of waves and the wafting chill that crept around the table. The light wasn’t very good, either, which probably was a double impediment for him, making it harder to see and Riko look even weirder than usual, as her slit pupils reflected and grew to let her see better. And still he sat there and now Riko realized what might be going on. He was being polite, waiting for her to actually initiate the conversation. Amusement welled up and she managed only just so to keep it to a small, short smirk. Leaning back even more in her chair, she slightly tilted her head and let wand fall into her hand, aiming it at him. His big eyes grew even wider, but he held completely still and his face stayed otherwise composed.

“Calidus,” Riko said, just loud enough for him to hear it.

Then she let her wand fall back into it’s holder in her sleeve, looking out the window into the lake for a moment to let him compose himself a little. A little fun was alright but she saw no need to act callously, he did have some guts, after all. She settled comfortably in the chair, looking back to him.

“Where you from, then, Theodore Sotirius Nott?” Riko just couldn’t help it, taking things overly serious was simply impossible for her, though she tried to make sure her tone was light, not mocking. Besides, she hadn’t really decided what to call him, and maybe his reaction would give a hint.

He was obviously startled, but rallied well enough. “Cornwall,” he said hastily, making it sound more like Kernow, “off Lamorna. Why’d you ask?”

He shot her a curious, if a little guarded, look and Riko almost grinned at his immediate question. So they were to trade inquiries?

“Well, I’m curious and it’s really not that cold yet, so I was thinking you had to be from somewhere warmer,” she answered airily enjoying the chance for some harmless literally true fun without telling any complete answers.

Mostly it was something deeply ingrained in her travellers customs, to ask where one hailed from to start a talk. He had no need to know that, however, and she’d spoken true about her other reasons. He was watching her intently now, but remained quiet and Riko realized, she’s have to ask another question or otherwise get him to actually make conversation, if she wanted more than cautious silence from the kid.

“So tell me,” Riko drawled with a short, dry smile, holding back on using his full name again with an effort. “What brings you here?”

She gestured at her table and him in his chair, amusement dancing in the back of her head and voice. The old travellers customs really worked in every sort of situation, a fact that never failed to entertain her. Small wonder, as many were derived from either customs of the Fae or from old customs on interacting with the fair folk. It resulted in a heavy emphasis on leading comments and circumspect, discreet language and a maximum vagueness in any direct questions. The latter seemed quite fitting here and it did appear to ease Theodore’s mind, letting him sit a little straighter. Riko could see him suppress the urge to clear his throat and inwardly nodded approvingly.

“I’m here to make you an offer,” he said in a very serious voice, but then floundered, obviously unsure on how to best continue. Wait or talk?

“..that I can’t refuse?” Riko grinned at him. Seeing his confused look, she almost laughed. Gesturing dismissively she shook her head, to show he needn’t panic and start stuttering answers to the question. He’d looked about ready to do just that, and she didn’t want him so feel like an idiot for the rest of the conversation.

“Alright, then, offer away! You got my curiosity, but I can tell you that’s an easy thing to do and the results of it vary greatly,” she shot him an easy smile. He gave a small nod and Riko noticed with approval how he didn’t miss her close scrutiny, being just as focussed himself. Not really all that wet-behind-the-ears, that one.

“Yes, I know. I watched you, a bit, and listened around a little, too,” he admitted and Riko raised an eyebrow in interest. And not exactly benevolent interest, either.

She had a hard time thinking of good, excusable reasons for someone to try and gather any sort of intel on her. Never mind that she hated it utterly. But she reserved judgement for now, aware that paranoia wasn’t always a good thing. He was perceptive enough to shoot her an apologetic smile and quickly continue.

“And, well, it’s an offer for a trade of favours. It’s.. it’ll take a bit to explain, so I really appreciate you listening. I’ll make it fast as I can..”

The spike of amusement was sharper than before, and so was the smile Riko flashed him for it, her eyes narrowing just the least bit. Well done, making all but sure she’d listen him out. He was playing pretty well. And from his lack of reaction to her just now, she was starting to wonder at his layers, how very interesting.

“I’m somewhat of a prodigy,” he said it so matter of factly that Riko was inclined to consider it indeed a fact. “..and I’m set to jump into second year for second term. It’s already cleared with the teachers and all, my father talked with Professor Snape, too. All clear. Now I only need one more thing, and that’s an official patron.”

He was watching her closely for any sort of reaction as he paused, so Riko resolutely didn’t give him any, just to be contrary and because she could. His own manner was similarly guarded, only a little tension sneaking out. Or was it being allowed out?

“It’s really hardly any effort,” he continued, “I’d just need your notes of last year and later, once I made it into your classes, your notes of this year’s first term. And you’d have to tell Professor Snape you’ll be my patron, of course.”

He paused again, and Riko allowed her face to look slightly expectant, over the guarded gaze they were giving each other. It was interesting, that he started with the thing the other party would be expected to deliver, polite and up-front at the same time. Just how planned it was, she wasn’t sure, which was interesting, too. He’d clearly given this whole things some previous thought.

“In return, I’d help out with any subject or project you want while you’re being my patron and I’d obviously owe you a..reasonable favour, too.”

Riko couldn’t help but smirk at him then. He’d drawn his shoulders back, sitting even more erect and proudly, despite being a titchy little thing in obviously too-thin robes. Clearly he wasn’t fond of owing a favour and she was curious why it was the currency he had chosen, then. He didn’t look like money was tight and he could have offered a more defined favour, for example about school-matters, if he was such a prodigy.

“Why?” Riko looked thoughtfully at him, sticking to her strategy of vague questions. It was much more telling how they answered than what they answered, often enough.

“Why what?” Well, unless they refused to be obliging or were actually too unsure of what she meant. She suspected it was a mix, with him.

“Why’d you want to jump first year in the first place, for one? Even being a prodigy, why not just use the time to learn anything else that catches your fancy in the library while you ace your subjects?” Riko gestured vaguely as she continued, trying to get a better grip on who this kid was and why he was asking her, come to think of it. “Less stress that way, after all, and I’m not just talking homework and learning, y’know.”

And from his look he did indeed know. The others in his year might easily feel slighted by the scrawny kid, assuming he thought himself better than them, and her own yearmates had little incentive to warmly accept a newcomer who had done what they couldn’t.

“Well, I’m not here to make friends and there’s better libraries than Hogwarts,” Theodore stated calmly, drily, confidence slipping in at the subject. “I see no reason to waste time and jumping a year brings its own sort of recognition. I’m hoping to do it again third year, but it’ll depend on how I do until then. But first year is really the best to jump and I’m already bored out my skull in class, I’m bound to go mad if I stay. I already had a tutor on most of it.”

It was all true, ta cueroscope old pal, but it didn’t stop Riko from wondering. After all, the Notts were one of the so-called ‘real pureblood families’, even listed in that ridiculous ‘Pure-Blood Directory’ Druella Malfoy was so fond of quoting. Why ask her, even with her spellfather probably known by now she had far less pull than others. And why was he so keen on the status that came from jumping a year over making contacts or just enjoying himself, here? But even as straightforward as his answer was, she wouldn’t ask that. It was a point in his favour that he was direct in his answers, even if he clearly held some things back. The least she could do was show the same courtesy back. Agreeably, Riko leaned her head to the side and shrugged.

“Alright then, though that still leaves the question of why you’d ask me of all people to be your patron. If you’ve watched and listened around, you should’ve noted I’m not overly interested in politics and usually have other projects that I consider a better use of my time. If I were your patron I’d do it right, which is not done with handing over a bunch of notes, so why should I spend my time on you instead?”

There was definitely more tension around his eyes now, though he readily answered her question if not her bludger style words. He must have prepared very well for this, gone through all possible developments and points he could think of.

“I thought you’d be the most likely to agree while also being the least troublesome to have as a patron,” he spoke calmly, his face carefully neutral as he listed his reasons. “For one thing, your tendency to have all sorts of project would make you appreciate mine, make it easier to add me to the list and also stop you from spending too much of your time on me. And I can assure you, I really do only need your notes. I’m not looking to make friends or get drawn into any politics, and you generally keep out of Slytherin matters, you’re pretty neutral, usually.” 

He finished with a small shrug and Riko gave him a dry smile, especially on account of the last word. “Yet, even with my current lack of neutrality, you still think it’s a good idea to ask me.”

He crossed his arms then, before hastily putting his hands into his lap again. Riko almost smiled, especially as he drew himself up again. “Well, let’s look at the alternatives,” he sounded a little like Professor Snape going through a list of ingredients, which only served to amuse Riko further. “Targhin and Lannis are too fond of hanging out together and even if I did convince them they’d be bound to tie in social stuff into the debt I owe them. No thanks. Bullstrode and the Sorrentinos are too fond of mischief and physical activity to be easily convinced and have the same problem. Zabini would be too steep just to get interested and Malfoy or his set would either not do it at all or be utterly insufferable about it, which I’m not prepared to put up with.”

Riko considered the kid, carefully weighting his words. It was true, Draco could be insufferable, but he wasn’t always. Indeed, she knew from past experience that Draco could do amiably indifferent just fine. If approached the right way, and especially considering the kid’s family name, it shouldn’t have been any sort of problem. But Theodore was being perfectly honest with her, according to her cueroscope, and not faking his dislike of the name Malfoy, either. And he wasn’t even trying to use her current and very public falling-out for his own gain. Not willing to pay the price of giving away his views and perhaps the causes for it, probably. Smart, that.

“I see,” she remarked amiably, enjoying another spark of amusement at the increase of tension around his eyes at her reply and accompanying smirk. “Thing is, if you’d only need some notes, Professor Snape wouldn’t make you hunt for a patron. You’re supposed to find yourself a way to not get eaten alive, so I have to ask you again if you really think it a good idea to take up with me. Specially as you were now already seen talking to me. How well do you think your patron-hunt will go with the others, loath to be second-choice, if I turn you down, now?”

The kid was clearly shaken at her admittedly rather sharp and up-front approach, but he kept it together, earning some more goodwill and respect along the way. He was not easily dissuaded, which was a good thing, too; he’d need that for his plan, wether she took him on or not.

“Well, if you turn me down, I’ll just make sure everyone sees me shaking my head before and after I give you a polite bow and leave you to your book again. If asked, I’ll just say you wanted something in return for being a patron that I didn’t agree on, implying I went to you because it would cost me the least, which in itself isn’t even that untrue.”

Jutting out his chin just so, he continued, his eyes narrowed, not so much in anger but actually in concentration, as he focussed entirely on settling the negotiation in his favour. Riko almost, almost laughed, appreciating the opportunity to see and learn more of this kid and his stubborn pride.

“I still say it’d be the best for everyone concerned if you agreed, I’d make it worth your while and not take up much time and in return I won’t have to put up with anyone constantly getting on my nerves and trying to be unreasonable about what I owe them.”

With his focus some of his temper increased, too, which was probably not helped by the amusement Riko knew to be shining in her eyes by now. But it was just so entertaining, what was she to do?

“But I’ll get over it if this doesn’t work out. If it really comes down to it, though I doubt that, I’ll even ask Malfoy, and I will make him an offer he can’t refuse, alright.”

“Mhm, I see you’re completely set on the idea of becoming my apprentice, how could I ever possibly refuse such a great offer,” Riko smiled, only barely stopping herself from laughing at the context his words conjured up. Now if he’d said it through some cotton wool..

“I’ll be no ones apprentice, I have no need for a master,” the kid all but ground out, clearly stressed out just a little too much to appreciate any sort of humour as he stiffly crossed his arms. “I’d be your protégée for all of one year and I’d think you could manage to not mock be about it. This is a serious matter and I’m serious and..”

“No, you’re Nott,” Riko all but twinkled at him, before he could go and get worked up even more. Sheesh, kids these days, so quick to lose their temper and be all tense and explosive.

But even as she thought it, she gave an inward wince and it wasn’t just because of the way the kid’s eyes went all flat and his brows drew together in a way that would have heralded a serious problem if he were Amy. Eh, whatever sort of sense that was supposed to make, clearly Riko had better get over enjoying her private definition of jolly good fun.

“That I am indeed, and if you think this all a joke, then I suppose I better go straight up to Malfoy and make _him_ the offer and throw in my alliance against you, too, tell him I can see why he’d find you intolerable after what you said to him and all, bet that’d go over real well..”

“Not really what I’d recommend,” Riko threw in lightly as he had to take a breath. “It is just a temporary dispute, but still, bad idea. Personal matters do get exponentially more ugly as they spread, y’know. And yes, clearly you’re also serious, too much by far if you ask me, but you’re still young so there’s a good chance for a full recovery.”

“What?” Theodore gaped at her and Riko congratulated herself on derailing this particular avalanche before it could cause some volcanic eruption. Or was that earthquakes? Anyway, better settle the kid down, now, before he got back into it.

“Well, for one, Draco’d never believe I told you what went down, and if you did manage it against all odds,” Riko gave him a sardonic smirk “Let’s just say it’d be a phyrric victory, at best.”

His look was caught somewhere between confusion, disbelief, and shock, now, and she shot him a smile that was mostly apologetic before heaving a dramatic sigh.

“No need to be quite as shocked, kid. I hear it’s bad form to let your protégées go and publicly disembowel themselves, is all. Though I have to add that this is also your chance to walk away and try that other fallback plan of yours. Take your pick, eh?”

Now he was frowning again, though obviously in thought not anger, just catching up to it all and busy composing himself. Ah, and some stirrings of embarrassment at his own temper, generally a good thing though she worried a bit it might linger overly long. He seemed the broody sort and that sort of thing could get to be a serious impediment if allowed.

 “Why?” He asked at length in a cautious, level tone.

Riko smiled slightly, raising one eyebrow as she countered, “Why what?”

He caught the turn, also smiling lightly, and Riko was glad to let go of some of her worry as he specified, “Why’d you agree now?”

“Weellll, why not?” Riko said lightly, trying to find her own reasons, now that the decision was already made. “For one, you’re quite smart and you got some spunk. And then you managed to catch my interest by holding up pretty well and my sympathy for having a bit of a temper and a bad case of seriousness. And, well, I’m hoping you really don’t need much help, because now that I think about it more, that weird altruistic urge is making less sense by the second..”

They looked at each other uneasily over the table for a long moment.

“So, ah, you ready to go for your fallback, now? Or what?” enquired Riko when he only continued to look at her warily.

He gave a small jerk, as if jolted back to reality, and shook his head. Riko allowed herself some hope, after all, he’d said he’d shake his head and give her a polite bow and leave her to her book..?

“Or what, clearly,” he smiled drily, clearly pleased, before falling back into a more reserved, even official tone. Oh dear, what had she gotten herself into, now?

“I mean, thank you for taking my offer,” he gave a grave nod. “I assure you, I’ll make sure to take up as little of your time as I can. Professor Snape said whoever my patron would be, they could inform him any way they liked.”

Riko stared for a moment, before giving a rueful sigh. Then she shut the stupid Transfiguration Lexicon with a thump, keeping her eyes on her new charge. What by all the gods and spirits..?

“Alright then,” she drew back her shoulders, her tone taking on definitive aspects of Edie and Shizuka sensei, and what the hell sort of mix was that?

“I’ll send him a note so he’ll know sometime tomorrow of your success. It might take a bit to get the notes of last year together, but I want to see your way of taking and using notes first, anyway. Tomorrow after dinner,” Riko decided, watching his slightly dazed nod with some satisfaction. She’d warned him she’d do it right, after all. “Now, first thing is the matter of address. You’ll call me Riko, because otherwise I won’t listen to a word you say. How am I to call you?”

“Theodore, I guess. Are you sure, I mean, I wouldn’t want anyone to think I’m being presumptious.. or rude! And..”

“Relax already, gods and spirits, I think we really have to do something about that, no idea what, yet, but anyway. You can think about it until tomorrow, I’m not forcing you to go first name. In fact, I’ll happily call you Nott every which way if you want, so just sleep on it first.”

The look of abject dread on the kid’s face left Riko with the urge to grin, but she channelled the energy into a steady stream of things that had to be cleared up anyway. Taking entertainment from where you could was a vital thing, one she hoped he’d have no trouble learning. Hm, better to make sure, though. She allowed her grin to show, then. “So, what classes d’you have tomorrow? No, scratch that, just give me your timetable for a moment. Right, you even got Binns, more time for you to make up your mind. Now, what other conditions for jumping first year did you leave unmentioned on account of how they’re your problem and not that of your patron? Yeah, I wasn’t hatched just yesterday, y’know..”


	9. Changing Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People are never the same with different people and in different circumstances, and then there's of course different circumstances that really require a different person than yourself. Good thing the Untouchables have it all planned out, then, and covered, right down to the cases of changing your skin, so to speak..

“Say, Edie, d’you still have your notes of last year? You had them all in different parchypedes, right?”

During her own double dose of Binns the very next day, Riko had already exhausted all other, well, most other subjects. The continuing barrage of heavy rain against the drafty windows in the History of Magic room made it either very uncomfortable and thus not inductive for any fun distractions or, once you applied some discreet warming charms, too comfortable to keep your eyes open. Riko had slept enough already, thank you very much, even though she’d also spent a lot of time thinking through what she’d have to do as a patron. One of the most important points was the notes of last year and Riko was uncomfortably aware that her kind of note taking was not very, hm, helpful for people who weren’t her, might be the best description. Even worse, if someone were to actually understand her way of taking notes they’d find much more in them than just the contents of last year’s class, which was not acceptable, at all. Neither her occasional stray thoughts and leaps of, well, if not logic then at least interest, nor any of the small ideas on her projects of last year were to be read by any one else.

“..err, yeees?” Edie replied at length from her insanely proper position.

She was actually sitting upright and even had a quill ready to write down the occasional name or fact. However she managed to remain unaffected by Binn’s soporific drone while still catching a steady supply of content was any one’s guess. Lazily gazing back into the amber-gold eyes that were now eyeing her quizzically, Riko had to suppress a grin. They had theorized it might be on account of Edie’s lycanthrophy, which after all made the dangerous, Dark werewolves able to stand all sorts of things. Amy was the same though, which had earned her much teasing and guessing what sort of creature their plain, officially muggleborn friend really was.

“Could you lend them to me? Or did you leave ’em home?”

Edie answered Riko’s innocent look with one that spoke volumes. It started out with _Of course you can have them_ and _Who cares if they’re at the Latch, that’s what owl post is for_ , mixed with a strong shot of _why the hell would you want my (complete and correct but to you utterly boring and pointless) notes in the first place_ and a deft sprinkling of _What by all the gods and Loki in particular are you up to now_ , the last of course all the more bewildered, because what sort of trouble _could_ one make with complete and correct but if you got down to it utterly boring notes? All in one look. Riko was both in awe and patently envious of her friends ability. She was no slouch in the department of conversation via eyeballing, herself, but against Edie’s looks there was just no comparing. And now she had to answer or risk the dread eyebrow of enquiry.

“Well, ahno, y’see,” Riko mumbled, shifting awkwardly in her relaxed slouch to combine her lying comfortably on the table with a closer proximity to her friend, to allow for less overhearing by others. And that was, just for the protocol, the only reason, definitely. Well, maybe Nott. Heh, she really was curious what form of address the kid would settle on. “I-sort-of-have-a-protégée-who’s-going-to-jump-first-year-and-he-needs-the-notes?”

Riko could see Edie silently mouth what she’d just heard, but after a few moments of silence her friend’s answer was only a very quiet.

“What?”

Pretty good as far as vague questions or demands for explanation went, really. And here was the dread eyebrow of enquiry, now Riko had no chance at all to escape with less than a full attempt at explaining. She heaved a sigh.

“Well, there’s this kid, yeah, and he’s all set to jump into second year next term, and it’s all cleared up already and he said he only needed the notes and for someone to be his patron and I err, sort-of-forgot-about-my-notes-being..” Riko paused in thought, waving the hand she wasn’t resting her head on.

“..not fit for human consumption?” Edie smiled brightly and innocently.

“hmf.. yeah, that too,” Riko huffed sheepishly, but heroically continued her explanation despite the dire circumstances. “Anyway, I don’t think he’ll take up much time but he’s going to need those notes, and I think yours would work best but I’ll see how he takes his notes this evening. I’ll point him out tomorrow breakfast, better not announce his assorting with me by being obvious at dinner, he stayed away so far at meal times, too.”

“Hm,” was Edie’s only reply and Riko threw her an alarmed look.

 _Hm_ was never a good thing to hear, least of all from Edie, whose laid-back ways and impressive amount of civility meant that her _Hm_ was the equivalent of a normal person’s prolonged and spirited rant. _Unless_ , of course, Edie was only pulling your leg and waited just one more second to send you a twinkly smile with a question she’d probably been waiting days or weeks to start in on. Damn it, that called for revenge at some unforeseen time not to soon.

“So you’re a problematic assorting,” Edie said, softly, agreeably, good-cop-like, “What’s with that, hm? I’ve seen you buried in some book or other during meals for a while but that’s a new one, mite stronger than I thought.”

Just to show her appreciation of that manoeuvre, Riko dramatically rolled here eyes and flopped back to lie on the table. Massaging her eyes she at last raised up on her elbows and thought some about her answer. She had to say _some_ thing now, it was clearly Edie’s price for giving her the notes, and judging from her look Edie was actually worried. It was sort of nice even if it was a little inconvenient. Throwing her an easy smile and a relaxed shrug, Riko prepared to reassure her friend. The full moon was only a handful of days away, so Edie had better avoid any and all kind of stress. Besides, Riko was able to take of herself just fine and was as right as rain. Though, looking out the window, whoever had come up with that wording had clearly some sort of damage, seriously.

“Just a temporary thing. I sort of exploded at Draco a bit and we’re still on the outs. Least I have some quiet and peace now when I’m in the lair. Though I guess now that I gotta look after that kid I can forget about that, back to square one.”

Edie shot her a very mild smile at the obvious attempt to get the subject back to her new charge. Her look was again very thoughtful and she was clearly not over whatever worry had infected her. Riko brought out the heavy guns then, heaving an exasperated sigh and rolling her eyes again for good measure.

“Chill out, Edie, I’m not in Gryffindor. We Slytherins manage to politely disagree with each other all the time. Now, can I have your notes or d’you want to see the kid, first? Just from a distance, though, he was very clear about not wanting to get into any politics or social things, which is really just as well, otherwise I would’ve sent him packing right away.”

“You’re not gonna tell me what you exploded at Draco about, are you?” Edie sighed resignedly, but there was a faint smile tugging on her lips now, so Riko just grinned back unconcernedly.

“Course not, it was a silly thing that got out of hand. Not worth talking about or even wasting precious thinking time on,” Riko flopped back down on the table, to make a point of laying that subject to rest. “So, d’you have the notes here or d’you leave them at the Latch?”

Edie in return made a point of noting down something or other, though Riko had absolutely no recollection of anything distinct in Binn’s droning just then. It was very tempting to poke her in the side for it, but Riko held back masterfully, if she said so herself. Even Edie seemed to agree, judging from the mild look she shot her after finishing whatever she’d just been writing.

“Well, I had to leave some things home to transport some other stuff for a friend,” she said idly, but then relented and smiled mischievously. “But that was weeks ago, so yeah, no problem. At breakfast, tomorrow.”

“Ta, Edie,” Riko grinned and stretched happily, enjoying the comfort of her warming charm. “Wake me when it’s my turn for watch duty?”

Edie almost giggled then, throwing Riko a mock-stern look. “There’s not even a fire in our camp to sit around! And no, you’re not allowed to make one!”

Riko fell back after her entirely on-point pricking-up at the mention of a fire was shot down so harshly and closed her eyes. Hmm, that might be a nice prank for the future, spontaneous fire in History of Magic. She’d have to ask, hm, not Vincent, clearly, no, Amy then, for ideas. She was of course enough of a swot Riko couldn’t mention her goal but her friend’s speciality were after all small fires that could be carried around and didn’t need to be fed all the time and such..

The rest of the week went by quickly, far quicker than Riko had expected what with all the things she had to do. It turned out Theodore had decided to be called Theodore after all, and he was really quite smart. Riko’d made up a sort of schedule, as he had to pass the first year exams before the winter break, just for a chance to get into the second-year classes. Then, at the start of the next year he had to prove himself against the second year’s winter half-exams, and at end of the year he of course had to pass the second year exams well enough. It was no small feat, even with how far along he was already, so it was a good thing he took so well to Edie’s notes. In the few cases when he did have a question, he was quick on the up-take, which was a great relief. Riko was aware she could sometimes be a little impatient; there was a reason she had trouble getting along with people she considered slow. He also had a good grip on Transfigs, which she appreciated lots, mostly because it would’ve been a damn hassle to try and explain things so he could do it like the Tartan wanted. Well, she had her books of last year in her trunk, enough space after all, and the notes in there were on the safe side, she was pretty sure, but he didn’t seem to be needing any of that yet.

Thursday and Friday the Untouchables were itching with nervous energy and determined to make the most of the days before Edie was feeling too badly. Consequently, Filch had for a change even a reason for his hateful grumbling. Peeves on the other hand appeared very satisfied. Small wonder, Riko thought proudly, what with the small procession or herd, what was the correct term for a multitude of lively buckets, perhaps a wash? of dancing, clanging buckets making a spirited attempt to lemming down every singly flight of stairs they could find. Amy of course just had to explain _in detail_ that lemmings did not really just run down cliffs, that it was all just an urban legend that came from a silly and obviously false documentary of so-and-so. Once she had that finished, though, she enjoyed the fun just as much as they did. It wasn’t just the good spirits of the buckets as they happily jumped about and around and down the stairs, entertaining as that was. At least as good was the number of people running quite literally into them, stumbling and falling and stomping around with buckets on their feet. It really was a fantastic view, watching the hah, fall-out from behind their Obscurantis.

In exchange, well, sort of at least, they were very quiet on Saturday, hidden in their corner of the library before lunch and afterwards holed up in their room. Edie was again dwarfed by her massive scarf and alternating between using the enchanted ear plugs Amy had given her last year and the sweater with its charmed hood from Riko, all acting as a buffer between her overly sensitive sense and the surroundings. Even so the MC of Edie’s Fiddler’s Green CD was playing at a very low volume. She had a few other MCs of similar folk tunes but for some reason, this one was playing most often. It made for a very pleasant background, and worked just as well as a distraction if you were inclined for it. Not to mention the fun of coming up with alternate lyrics every now and then. By evening Edie was looking all peaky again and Riko would’ve liked nothing better than to drag her to Madam Pomfrey and curl up beside her in the bed to make sure she was alright. But currently the hospital wing saw way too many visitors, what with everyone and their neighbour catching colds left and right from the disgusting weather. They’d have to time things carefully, tomorrow, to avoid Edie being seen. Most people were only there shortly, as Madam P just gave them a dose of Pepperup potion and sent them on their way. It worked very well, by all accounts, and it left the patients steaming out of their ears for hours afterwards, which was fun to watch. But still, it wouldn’t do to be careless and get into trouble just because one bored patient paid too much attention.

Riko was glad they’d waited so long to discuss their exact plan because by then everyone was so tense she didn’t have to argue much to get to be Edie tomorrow. Not that her arguments weren’t sufficient in and of themselves. Yes, Amy was free til lunch but she had Potions after that and it was Riko who’d stayed with Edie over the summer and she also had the best chance of vanishing (namely in a puff of smoke and shadows) if it all went to shite. It also became increasingly clear to her friends that Riko was indeed best suited for the infiltration, just by all the questions she asked in preparation. What was the layout of the Ravenclaw dorms, which were her things in the bathroom, her usual behaviour regarding her housemates, her roommates, right down to what conversations they’d had the last few days, which books Edie had been seen reading and to what chapter.

“You’re actually a bit scary with how anal you are about this whole thing, d’you know? I mean, you’re just walking in and going to bed..” Vi drawled when Riko was mostly satisfied with everything she’d learned from Edie.

Her voice was drily amused, but the look she shot Riko was a bit more serious than usual. Riko realized Vi was actually giving her an out, as both Edie and Amy were starting to look wary. Which was probably understandable, with the atypical seriousness she was currently displaying. Oops.

“Gah, you amateur! Consistency helps the plot, don’t you know,” Riko made a quick, rude gesture and gave her a warm grin, rolling her eyes. “And it’s called paranoid not anal, sheesh!”

“Well, I doubt the Ravenclaws are anywhere near you level of paranoid, but if it makes you feel better..” Vi shot her an overly indulgent smile, her eyes remaining sharp and thoughtful.

Well, Riko had never assumed Vi wouldn’t notice such things, so that was alright. And her friend didn’t make an issue of it, so cheers and praise were clearly called for.

“It does, thank you, Vi,” she shot her friend a gratefully twinkly smile, “Besides, it’s better not to underestimate any Ravenclaws, just look at Edie, and if you do something you better do it right, so please excuse me going all super-spy. If you’d heard just a few of the stories I’ve heard..”

“Alright, already, relax Riko! We’re all deeply impressed. You better share your pearls of wisdom with us later, so we can all pass as Edie, even against her devilishly smart housemates,” Amy grinned, throwing a wadded up parchment at her head.

Her approval of Riko’s very planned-and-prepared approach was clear, so Riko only good-naturedly stuck out her tongue, glad to see Edie relax, too. She’d learned that very sensitive senses also equalled that much harder to put one over her friend. Since Riko had decided early on she owed her friends every kind of honesty she could give this wasn’t bad exactly, but it was better to end this with nobody stressed at all.

*

Riko had a very strange case of mission-mode the entire next day. Edie insisted on staying herself as long as possible and publicly eating her lunch in the Great Hall, even though by then she was looking almost like a walking corpse. Then they went back to waiting in their room because afterwards everyone who wasn’t feeling well shuffled straight to Madam Pomfrey for a dose of Pepperup potion. Edie managed to fall asleep, curled up on their couch with a heavy blanket pulled over her head despite the scarf she’d wound round her head over the hoodie and the earplugs. She looked so miserable, even asleep, that Riko was loath to wake her, but around three, after Vi had scouted down and said the coast was clear, putting it off would’ve only made it worse.

Seeing how badly her friend was feeling just sitting up and trading scarves, Riko was double proud of the identical dark blue sweater she’d ordered after last month’s full moon. It was still in her rucksack, as was a pair of jeans like Edie liked to wear. The idea of her miserable looking friend being forced to change more than just shoes now seemed plain insane. Amy had transfigured some socks into a pair of slippers and Vi charmed them to look like Edie’s usual sneakers. Edie herself seemed by this time to be hardly paying any attention to anything as they made their way down to Madam P’s domain. This was a good thing, because as they opened the door, they almost ran straight into Ginny and Percy Weasley.

The two were on their way out, judging from the steam rising from under Ginny’s vivid red hair. It gave the impression of her head being on fire, as the girl also had an angry flush on her otherwise pale face and from the set of her shoulders and the heavy hand of her prefect brother on them, Riko thought she had a good idea of the cause. She’d been point, with Edie being all but carried between Amy and Vi, and Riko immediately made sure to stay between the officious ginger and her friends. Of all the prefects they had to run into the loudest and most likely to bother them, what luck! Riko held the door open, so he could pass them, but of course he was more interested in what was none of his business. Typical mane-brained busybody, that one.

“What are _you_ lot doing here, you don’t look like you have a cold, Slyver!” He made it sound terribly offensive to not have a cold and could he have tried to talk louder without actually turning it to yelling?

“Quite right, Prefect Weasley, but my friend here does have a rather bad case, so if you could please get out of the way?” Riko was quite proud of her civil words, as she would’ve liked nothing better than to put a sock in the git’s mouth.

But she was the line of defence between her ill friend and this menace, who might actually make Edie’s head explode just by being so damn red and loud in every sense of the word. Remaining polite and sounding it too were important. However, just like McGonagall, he seemed entirely unfazed by such things as reasonable behaviour or courtesy, so of course instead of following her suggestion he moved closer, as if to examine Edie himself. Riko tensed up, though she was unsure on how to best proceed. Kicking him in the knee might keep him away shortly, but the noise he’d make...

“Er, Percy, can we go now? I’d like to lie down a bit, and I still wanted to ask you about that first ever resolution issued from the Wizards Council for History of Magic..” Ginny Weasley was tugging shyly on her older brother’s sleeve, looking as if all she really needed was a hug, a warm bed, and perhaps some warm tea.

Remarkably, it turned the prefect into an actual human being, eyeing her worriedly and gathering himself immediately. He was still looking at Riko with clear suspicion but it was much diminished, just as his apparent desire to get closer to Edie. Amy took the chance to intervene, making Riko very glad of both her friend’s perceptiveness and credit as a good, responsible student.

“Hello, Percy, good to see you! Sorry we took so long to bring her in, but we were in the library, reading, and we didn’t even notice she’d fallen asleep and was looking so bad. Is Madam Pomfrey very busy?”

Riko had quickly stepped to the side, so that she was still ready to guard Edie and Amy had a clear line of fire at the Weasley prefect, and she now admired her friend’s well-played distraction. If he still wanted to bother Edie after that double incentive to the contrary, she’d feel entirely justified in doing something terrible, if yet unidentified, to him. Turned out he didn’t. He cleared his throat, loudly, Riko could actually feel Edie wince behind her at the noise, and he still looked vaguely disapproving but he gave a curt nod.

“Of course, Ginny, we’ll be on the way right away. Hermione, that was quite careless, even though I understand how a book can catch one’s attention. Madam Pomfrey should be free now, I didn’t see any other patients. Be sure to be more careful and that you don’t catch anything.”

He looked down his noise with ill-disguised distrust at Riko at the last words, but she only shot him a placid look. As long as he cleared out at last, she didn’t care what he thought Amy might catch from her. Giving another huff of inflated importance he did just that, turning with an air of ever-so-busy responsibility and left, hand still on his sister’s shoulder. Riko didn’t pay him any further attention, but she did shoot a thankful look and salute at Ginny when the girl cautiously glanced back over her shoulder. The youngest Weasley had helped them without any real reason to do so, and Riko greatly appreciated it. It had been a very good show, too. If she hadn’t seen the angry set of Ginny’s jaw just seconds before her addressing Percy, Riko would have quite likely believed it to be entirely genuine. Well, if it weren’t for her cueroscope, but she was aware that made it sort of like cheating. Then she put the thought out of her head and focussed on the here and now, mission mode spreading it’s restful calm inside her again.

They quickly delivered Edie into one of the beds in the back, Madam P striding out of her office before they were ten steps into the room. The mediwitch shot them some stern glares but was very gentle and most importantly, very quiet, while she made sure Edie was as comfortable as possible. The corridor outside was empty, luckily, so they could obscure themselves and trudge back to their room where they spent the rest of the waiting time busying themselves. When it was time to be Edie at dinner, Riko first changed clothes, taking a deep breath before throwing one of the hairs plucked from Edie’s head just hours ago into the potion. Compared to the test, it looked much brighter, not so much like amber but more golden. Resolutely ignoring any worries, Riko downed it in a big gulp. It tasted more strongly of copper and brass than of caramel and butterbeer, this time. The change itself was as unpleasant as expected, but the result was so much worse that Riko was thoroughly distracted from thinking about any small differences to the time they’d tested it.

Her head was pounding with an unsteady rhythm that did bad things to her insides and the weak light in the room seemed to be stabbing at her brain with burning lances. She couldn’t just hear the breathing, even the pulse, of her two friends, she could hear the students trampling the stairs two turns of corridor away and the sudden amount of smells was plain disturbing. Especially with her already unsettled insides. At least she’d already wrapped Edie’s scarf around her, so it was all muffled by the overwhelming smell of Edie. Riko didn’t want to think on how bad it would be to move about without that protection, when even now it was so painfully strong it was hardly bearable.

“Riko?” Vi’s voice made Riko wince and worry her hearing might be taking permanent damage from the loud volume, even though she knew her friend had talked in a quiet voice already.

“Yeah, Vi, sorry, but I think I’m a bit too much like Edie just now..” she managed to whisper, wincing even at that level of sound.

The pounding of their worry-accelerated pulse was like standing beside a steam train and if Riko hadn’t felt like her skin was one itching prison already, she might have cringed. Everything hurt, her bones, her muscles, her skin and her damn hair even! Clearly it was just better to not move at all, so wincing was right out.

“What?” her friends whispered very, very quietly then, and Riko forced herself to pay more attention to the outside and less to her painful inside.

Leaning back with great care, she took a slow, steady breath, letting her eyes fall closed to deal with her hearing. She’d probably go mad with sensory overload, otherwise. How Edie managed to be still so sane, despite going through this on a regular basis, Riko didn’t know.

“Seems I get to be the exact copy of the person from the time the sample was taken. Guess we better plan ahead, next time, what level of feeling bad is best.”

Riko sighed, very quietly but still too loud for her own comfort, when their sharp intake of breath felt like it wanted to pierce through her eardrums. Then, moving very carefully and silently cursing herself an idiot, she adjusted the hood of her sweater to the highest setting of filtering sound. It helped, if only a little.

“Alright,” she whispered, forcing herself to sit up straight. “Let’s go, Vi.”

Ignoring the flattened looks of her two friends, she laboriously rose from the couch and started for the door. They had agreed that three of them eating without Riko anywhere to be seen would be too suspicious, so Vi and polyjuice-Edie would visit the Hufflepuff table and take some food along, obviously sent to retrieve dinner for the two others of their group. Riko was very glad of her friends saving their breath, and her the displeasure of having to hear not only their, but mostly her own voice, if she’d have to argue. The hood only filtered sound that came from outside, meaning that listening to others talk was less painful by far than answering them. It might be the reason Edie often tended to be so quiet, even when it wasn’t around the full moon. It’d impressed itself very quickly, that utterly unpleasant fact.

Moving her miserable body entirely on willpower, Riko made sure to stay close to Vi as they made their way down. They remained under Vi’s Obscurantis until they reached the Great Hall, running into the Duck Squad in this state would’ve been a bleeding disaster, but even after they’d entered and were moving to the table, Riko leaned against her friend. She’d thought she’d get used to the different limbs quickly, after all she’d tested it already, and Edie’s build wasn’t _that_ much different from hers, yet. But this was different again, entirely different, and it was all she could do to grit her teeth and move at all, much less try and move like her friend usually did, all deliberate and shy self-control. When they returned with a handful of sandwiches to their room, Riko was calling herself twelve kinds of idiot for being so stubborn as to do this, but she wasn’t going to tell Vi about it. Judging from her looks, her friend already knew and Riko was pathetically grateful she was being quiet about it, and not just because of her bloody hyperactive ears, either. Forcing herself to eat one whole sandwich, Riko learned that she’d also received Edie’s tastebuds. The creamy white cheese with the lettuce and tomatoes tasted entirely different, though still very good. In comparison, just the smell of the bacon on Vi’s sandwich, usually one of Riko’s favourites, almost made her sick.

“I think I better get to Edie’s bed, before this one runs out,” Riko whispered at length.

She didn’t bother asking about any potential older hair of Edie. If they had one, they’d have said so. And she didn’t fancy wasting the time of her disguise, no matter how unpleasant it was. Riko had four other hairs in a small folded parchment in her pocket and an equal number of vials in her, well, in Edie’s bag, but if she had to feel terrible then she’d make sure to use that time well, at least. If she could play it right, she’d be able to make do with only one more dose, tomorrow morning, and wasn’t that something to look forward to. Her friends only nodded, clearly worried, and Riko wondered if she looked as bad as she felt or if there was some problem with her current plan. It wasn’t the best, not the one they had agreed on, but it was workable, right?

She’d planned on arriving just before the library closed, thus ensuring a high number of Ravenclaws seeing her. But after dinner there’d also be lots of students returning to their dorm, to work in their common room or read up in their rooms, so she’d have plenty of witnesses, too. The way she’d look now, it’d be easy to explain she wasn’t feeling well and lie down, drawing her curtains. And looking just as miserable tomorrow morning was the perfect excuse to go to Madam Pomfrey even before breakfast, and nobody would be surprised if the mediwitch decided to keep her, then.

“Anything wrong?” she asked, cautiously, whispering, to make sure she hadn’t made a mistake, but the incredulous looks she received answered her question already.

“Nothing, you just look like something ate you and spit you back out, but the plan’s solid,” Vi managed to whisper sardonically, which was impressive all on it’s own.

Amy shot the two of them an exasperated, worried smile, but Riko was relieved to see her give them both a fond look as she shook her head.

“I’ll take you to the back entrance of the Eyry, and no arguing, you look bad enough no one’s going to think twice on it,” her Gryffindor friend declared quietly, obviously pleased that Riko was unlikely to talk back, now.

Riko rolled her eyes in answer and instantly regretted it, and with the scarf wrapped up to her ears she couldn’t even stick out her tongue. Live was unfair, but that wasn’t news, after all, so Riko just gave her friend a nod and a slightly grumpy look. She didn’t pay much attention to the way, busy recalling the password and details she’d got from Edie.

*

“Tenscale’s tome,” said Riko as clearly and quietly as she could, leaning exhaustedly beside the large coat of arms cut and inlaid into the wall, once she’d followed the hidden corridor in the west wing of the 7th floor. The stones in its centre, tapped with her wand in an exact order just seconds ago, wriggled, and, just like at the entrance to Diagon Alley, a small hole appeared, growing rapidly into a tall, gothic archway. The short, curved corridor was still edging itself together, it seemed, the tang of conjured-up matter sharp in her nose, and when she entered she had to put her hand to the wall from a weird sense of vertigo. Riko moved on as fast as she could, eyes straight forward and breathing lightly through her mouth, too miserable to appreciate the impressive view. Which _was_ just as well as otherwise she’d have forced herself to ignore it, anyway. She could hardly gawp at what was supposed to be her regular dorm, or its entrance, now could she?

On the threshold into the room she took a weak breath, then straightened her back and shuffled forward, painfully aware of the way her pulse was misbehaving. But nothing happened as she crossed it onto the wide circular balcony that made up the upper storey of the Ravenclaw common area, a great, airy room. Moving gingerly down one of the three small winding stairs to its lower floor was unpleasant but still far better than the idea of taking the tower’s main entrance. Riko had been very glad of Amy helping her get up to the 7 th  floor, both for the protection of her friend’s Obscurantis and the opportunity to lean on her. It was certainly better than trying to walk up the very steep and tightly winding stairs that led up from the fifth floor all on her own. Besides, clearly only a Ravenclaw would know this less-used entrance.

Quiet, or a sort of quiet, reigned on the floor, which made her that much more glad to have finished the stair, but even here people were breathing far too loudly, and far too many of them, too, and she could hear every murmur and mumble as people poured over their essays, scratching their quills over their parchment or quietly exchanging opinions on them. Who’d have thought library-quiet was so loud? Then someone sneezed and Riko couldn’t stop a wince when it was followed by the sound of that person blowing their nose, loudly. So far she’d made sure to wave a few subdued greetings to the few yearmates Edie had said she usually greeted, but the painful thunder in her ears had her struggle just to stay upright.

Grimly biting her lip, Riko all but stumbled into the door that opened directly onto the start of another very steep and tightly winding stairs. If she hadn’t been completely sure that any attempt to step into the shadows to flow up more quickly would make her puke her guts out, at best, Riko would have tried it in a heartbeat. Instead she moved purely on autopilot through a painful haze that made everything blurry enough she started to worry about passing by the right door. But no, there was the glyph of Jupiter minus Earth, at long bloody last. Steeling herself after noting the sharp traces of bright light from under the door, Riko walked in and made straight for the bed that was Edie’s, the one closest to the door. She also started a normal greeting in a voice that was definitely too loud. But whispering wouldn’t do, just now.

“Hey there,” said Riko normally, normally for fucks sake! It felt like her head would explode. “Mandy.” she finished with a small nod.

Luckily there was no one else here, right now, so when the girl only gave nod and a blessedly quiet “Hey, Edie”, bending back over her book, there was nothing to stop Riko from seeking the shelter of the bed. She quickly dropped the bag, laboriously wriggled out of Edie’s very loosely closed sneakers, and silently fished out the smaller bag with the potions. Vi had put her modded silencer on it and Riko was very grateful for that as she hastily stealthed it under her pillow, pulling out the pyjama as a distraction. She only changed into the bottom of it, but Edie had said she usually changed the rest with drawn curtains, anyway. After a moments hesitation, Riko readied herself for the big shit. She threw back the hood and drew down the scarf. Blinking owlishly at the sudden increase of, well, everything, she again talked in a damn normal voice. She felt a muscle in her back twitch at the pain and refused to move, both because she had to do this first and because she wasn’t sure what would be worse. Move or not move?

“Erm, Mandy, sorry, I’m feeling a bit under the weather so I’ll try and sleep it off. I’ll just close it off here, so g’night and all.”

Mandy had looked up when Riko started, already looked down and then looked up again, as if belatedly disbelieving what she saw. Then she actually rose from her bed and walked over, looking at Riko, well, Edie, with obvious concern.

“Sheesh, Edie you really do look bad, even worse than yesterday! Didn’t you go to Madam Pomfrey?”

Riko worked very, very hard to shoot the girl an apologetic smile, as if sorry to worry her, which was definitely an Edie thing to do. “Yeah, I did and I felt better afterwards, too. She said I need rest, so that’s what I’ll do. If it doesn’t work, I’ll just visit her again, tomorrow.”

Mandy gave a small huff, sitting back down at the neighbouring bed. “Perhaps you should’ve done that resting over the day, too, huh?”

Riko did that almost-wince then, without even really trying, the one Edie often did, and wasn’t that disconcerting, how that once-a-month thing had inserted itself in her friends mannerisms. Her smile held, though, even if it was admittedly somewhat pained, now. “I did, I think the most exciting thing I did today was eat in the Great Hall and, well, read a little..”

Mandy shot her a tolerant look, obviously keen to go back to her book. “Alright, then. I’ll hope my reading won’t turn out as stressful as whatever book you spent your time on. G’night, Edie.”

And with that she had buried her head in her own book again. It was, of all things, Travels with Trolls. Remembering suddenly the one Edie had, signed for Schwanzus Longus, Riko almost laughed. However, that would explode her head for sure, so she stifled the urge in favour of drawing all curtains closed with a mumbled G’night. Once that was done, she took a relieved breath and gingerly leaned back against the pillow, charming the back of her notebook to act as a mirror. It took a while, but when she put it away again, she’d layered a glamour over herself that made her look exactly as she was looking now. She also felt as if a khirin had trampled her, but well, what else was new. Hiding again behind the protection of her hood and Edie’s scarf, Riko closer her eyes and leaned back, burrowing under the blankets to try and not freeze. It was uncommonly hard just to warm up, much less stay warm and she resolved to ask Edie about that. Was it always like that or only around the full moon? Edie was plenty warm, usually, so it was probably the moon.

Luckily it didn’t take long until Riko felt herself turn back into herself again, complete with the usual disconcerting roiling and stretching of skin and all. She supposed she was actually quite lucky she hadn’t run into any Ravenclaws that actually wanted to interact with Edie, and that she looked as miserable as she did. One hour really wasn’t long, hadn’t she read something regarding time during her research over the summer? She’d have to look it up, she was sure there had been something, but all her notes on the subject were hidden under layers and layers of other, not- or not-quite-as illegal stuff. Riko hadn’t even taken them out for the brewing because she had summarized everything necessary in her notebook in the most unreadable way imaginable. Yes, paranoia, but it worked, so there.

Back in her own skin, though still visually disguised, it took Riko all of one second to practically bounce with impatience. Here she was, in unknown territory, but with no chance to explore. After her little performance she couldn’t just get up again and even if she did, she’d be unable to properly explore as she’d have to play Edie. With a heavy sigh, she cast Scutum Strepiti on the curtains, just to be sure, and busied herself with Uncle Kal’s letter. It was over a month since she’d last tried it, just after her explosion at Draco. Today, it was much easier to push other matters from her mind and continue poking the wards and tricks and locks on the folded parchment. It turned out that jiggling around the wandless concepts she already knew about for wards and circles with some creativity and her wand worked wonders. Well, Uncle Kal had managed to get past the wand-based wards of Professor Snape easily enough, it was only logical he would apply some of what he’d learned on his riddle for her. Also, Riko was gratified that it hadn’t been a trick he’d wanted to play on her with an empty letter. It wasn’t a long letter, but then, this was Uncle Kal. He was never wordy, even less in any sort of missive.

_Riko,_

_I have given the man who claims responsibility for looking after you at your current place of learning the means to contact me, should it be necessary. It seems only right to not only inform you of this but also to extend the same offer to you. Should you need me for anything, simply send a missive to Gin-san containing the letter and describing it’s urgency._

_Best wishes in your endeavours,_

_Kal Su_

Blowing a sigh, Riko narrowed her eyes at the innocent letter. She’d have a word with him over that when they met again. He had after all agreed to let her do this herself. Even if he had probably just done it to reassure her head of house, this was simply not acceptable, especially considering he obviously didn’t plan on telling her what Professor Snape wrote to him. Not to mention that although he made it sound like he only wanted her to be on the same page as Professor Snape, he did imply she might need to reach him, which just smacked of him thinking she’d need help. Which she definitely and absolutely did not. She’d _always_ made do herself, that wasn’t going to change now, and considering the trouble she had already been in, Hogwarts would not top that, no way. 

Taking a deep breath, Riko made a mental note to properly think about every possible way out of this, later, when she wasn’t quite as annoyed about it. Looking at her watch didn’t help her mood, it wasn’t even time for the library to close yet. Just great, now what to do.. Ah, yes, of course. With a gleeful and not-friendly-at-all grin, Riko concentrated her mind and hearing on one little symbol and association after another, cycling through all the bugged rooms, looking for any sort of interesting conversation. However, it seemed to be still too early, all she got was some boring after-dinner talk in the Courtly Room, with official guests, to boot. Noting down the names and subjects, Riko gave up when the amount of stilted and by-rote stuffiness reached her definition of critical mass. She’d cycle back in a bit, but for now she had to preserve her sanity.

Next morning, when her personal alarm charm went off silently, Riko had got about as little sleep as Amy and Vi, and of course Edie. The very idea of going to sleep without properly exploring Ravenclaw tower was just inconceivable and the winds up here were much louder than the waves you could sometimes hear from the lake. But Edie could stay in bed, today, even if Riko didn’t envy her at all, having a very clear idea on just how miserable her friend was feeling. Checking the time, just to stall a little, Riko heaved a sigh and polyjouiced back into her friend’s skin. Then she laid back and waited for her other, official alarm. She had to be on time and herself for her own, supposedly ill, appearance to breakfast, after all.

Somehow, despite her unarguably great success in pulling everything off, the entire Monday was one big case of tiresome, even with Edie’s Charms class cancelled. The point was that Edie be seen, after all, so Riko had to be visible, in the library, for the assigned reading, which, ugh boring! And, as competent as Riko was in fronting, presenting a proper Edie in Ravenclaw discourse? Better not risk it. She sat with Amy and her two manes, who were markedly easier to fool and also more tolerable in manners here than they had ever been to Riko until they grew too bored and left. It certainly didn’t help that the double lesson of Flying in the last double period lacked not just Edie but also any sort of fun with her housemates, doubly so, and also the smallest patch of clear sky or dry skin.

When she raced for the hospital wing afterwards, Madam P insisted on dosing her with the Pepperup potion. It was entirely ridiculous, just because she was dripping from head to toe from the cold soup masquerading as air outside the castle. Water didn’t make people sick, now did it? (It didn’t, that was a fact.) At least the rest of the Untouchables looked alright. Edie even looked less peaky than on Saturday evening, which was absolutely great. Riko made sure to tell her friends every last detail, well, every last detail relevant to Edie, and when they separated, Riko knew that Amy would make sure Edie arrived undisturbed at the entrance to the hidden corridor on the 7 th  floor.

On they way down, Riko found herself slowly relaxing in the comfortable silence with Vi by her side, despite the fact she still had smoke coming from her ears. Too bad this only lasted until she entered the lair. She was just making her way to what had by now become her table, when she was intercepted by Darius Selwyn, this years fifth year prefect.

“You didn’t come in last night,” he said, simply stepping in her way.

Either would have been odd but in combination it sent up flags. Like his namesnake, the garter snake, chequered in his case, Selwyn was mostly harmless and left most of prefecting to Blaise’s cousin Jamie. Small wonder, the Racer snake was not someone to mess with while he’d really only been made prefect because his yearmates were even less suitable, by relation _and_ person. Riko stood completely still and took a short breath, drawing back her shoulders and leaning her head just a little sideways. ‘Really now?’ her stance enquired, not exactly respectful perhaps, but he had started it. No greeting, no mention of her stay at Madam P, _and_ entirely ignoring her name. Who did he think he was, anyway?

“Yup,” she simply answered, looking him over coolly and not volunteering any sort information in the face of such miserable manners. Out the corner of her eyes she could see Tony watching with clear interest while Theodore, already sitting at their table, looked like he was having trouble keeping his face neutral.

When it became clear she wasn’t going to say anything else on the matter, the garter snake actually had the gall to look put out. And he all but sounded like Percy Weasley, too, when he at last found his voice again. “Now, I know you didn’t lose any points, but what..”

“Research,” Riko interrupted him shortly, her tone polite but clipped. She wasn’t going to grant him the right to put any real questions to her. He was just a 5th year prefect who either didn’t realize or didn’t care he was being used by a 2nd year, namely Tony. She’d be damned before she let someone like that think she owed them anything, much less actual answers on her own fucking business. “And as you mentioned, I didn’t lose us any points. So if you want to be the one to do that, go right ahead. If you’d rather like to see me with a detention for it, I recommend you go and talk to our head of house. Other’n that, I have homework to do and a protégée to look after. Selwyn.”

Riko gave a polite nod upon pointedly, like an afterthought, adding his name but neither title nor snake, then swiftly, but still politely, walked around him. It was an even chance if he’d want to make something of it, prove his prefect authority and all that, alright, she knew that. But she wasn’t going to back from something like that, washed up excuse for what should be authority but wasn’t even really power, no bloody way, no matter her lack of official connections and alliances. Not after that sort of insult. She didn’t bother hiding how ready-tense her shoulders were, it was only fair warning to anyone thinking it a good time to rear up and join in.

“Oi, Selwyn,” she heard Gray call in his prefect voice, the one that was the reason nobody used coral snake as common name for his snake. Micrurus fulvius was also known as thunder-and-lightning snake, and the venomous elapid fit well for the seventh-year with his penchant for playing the good cop to Gemma’s Sunbeam. “About those OWL-notes you wanted to talk about..” Gray went on unhurriedly, drawing Selwyn away and from the looks of their following conversation being his usual, intimidatingly genial self.

Riko could have hugged him, even if she now owed him one and knew he’d done it in good part because he didn’t care for any escalations when he wanted to concentrate on his NEWTs. Nodding a polite and pointed “Tony” to her dormmate and resident telltale, she moved the rest of the way, sitting down with the relaxed air of someone proudly owning the place.

“Hey there, Theodore. Ready to revise the last instalment or d’you want to start with the questions, first?”

He shot her a look that was so perceptive and dry that Riko decided to leave off trying to read the rest of his mood on the matter, specially as tired as she currently was. It remained a rather busy, tense evening, making her glad for official lights-out, as she now apparently had to factor in Tony after all, damn it all.


	10. Happy Hallowe’en

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Has there ever been a Hallowe’en that deserve this title? Will there ever be? Well, at least accident landed this one in the correctly numbered chapter, so maybe at least the Hallowe’en itself can be called happy for that..

Gray’s stepping in evidently sent a strong signal, discouraging any sort of escalation. Tony seemed content to simply ignore Riko after that, and Selwyn kept away from her, too. No points were distracted for her absence in the lair on the night of the full moon and she wasn’t called to Professor Snape’s study, either. Riko was in return content to to ignore and be ignored to varying degrees by her house, busy as she was. She’d meant to catch Ginny at some point to properly thank her for the favour in the hospital wing but somehow she never got around to it. There was the lessons, for one, and their usual training, and language-learning, and then there were the occasional scrapes with the Duck Squad, and her personal Drake-family-surveillance. There was also the exploring the Untouchables still made a regular project of, and then Completely Headless Nick invited them to see his first-ever game of Head Polo since joining the Headless Hunt.

It was played in one of the big, lower dungeon halls and his team lost but it was a near thing and after waiting so long to be invited not as a spectator but as a player Nick was simply ecstatic he got to play at all. That was around halfway to Samhain after the last full moon, and it was a nice but also a very cold evening. By all definitions of the word, as Potter and Ron Weasley were there, too, and pointedly ignored Amy’s three non-Gryffindor friends. They didn’t provoke any kind of catastrophe, though, and nobody got caught, it was positively surreal, like the two manes weren’t even really there. Nick also used the opportunity to invite them to his 500 th  Deathday Party on Samhain, well, Hallowe’en, and he made such a courteous case of it they couldn’t possibly have said no if they’d wanted to. They agreed to show up a little late, eating first at the feast, as it was obviously something to look forward to, curious as they all were.

But first the Untouchables had their usual routine to continue and Riko was still looking through the not-exactly small amount of notes she’d made on all things Polyjuice, and the research on healing charms, and turning people into animals, not to mention the ever-growing and utterly unreasonable amount of homework and the matter of her protégée. At least the last two points sort of overlapped, otherwise Riko might have had a relapse of last year’s falling asleep in the library, and even so she was uncomfortably aware of how her research pretty much stagnated. Her timetable for Theodore was demanding, but he was smart and focussed enough to keep it up. In fact, it turned out he actually was a help, sometimes, as he had a very good memory and was far more resistant to the danger of becoming bored and distracted than she. And of course explaining something, especially to someone with a different way of thinking, did help to understand and keep just about any content.

He had a very, well, linear way of thinking, seemed the best way to describe it. At any rate, he had a much easier time understanding what the hell McGonagall meant when she wrote her incomprehensible notes, even for the stuff from second year. She didn’t let him help with any of her projects, not just because of her paranoia, really, the kid was busy enough as it was. Riko smiled when she thought of how he’d wanted to do this all by himself, just with a bunch of notes. And he was easy enough company, too, didn’t poke into her affairs or ask personal questions or discuss games or whatever, just focussed on what he could learn. And she was proud to see him relax a little, too. He grew less tense, less quick to tense up, less defensive. Of course that was when Gray’s favour came back to bite her in the ass, but that was to be expected. And, well, it was her business that he pointed her at, so it was really more like a second, less obvious favour, ugh, damn.

Beccause, nice as it was for Theodore to have got his nickname already, a stiletto snake, the occasion had annoyed Gray enough to make her as his patron deal with it. Apparently his roommates were taking rather more poorly to the kid’s ambition than even Riko had thought, and while her protégée was in many ways the typical still, deep water, once he got his blood up, and/or pushed into said water by some bloody asshole abusing their house’s awesome magical windows, he wasn’t above indiscriminate hexing of the rather volatile kind. Even against targets hiding behind a prefect and with no wand. It certainly explained the reference to the side-stabbing snakes, known as they were for not being safe to take even with the usual snake-grip, able to strike even with their mouth closed. But funny as that image was, it made for even more work, scouting around obscured and gathering clues, and making sure to handle it without any sort of bloody damned escalation, fuck it all.

Didn’t keep her from aiming a few temper-improving pranks (her own temper, of course) at the rotten little twats, and not the usual kind the Untouchables liked, where it was more about baffling than harming, but of course that was no valid solution. Didn’t stop her from learning much more than she actively cared for, either. And it would’ve been the height of bad form _and_ the complete opposite of helpful if she’d intervened in even one of those cases, alright, she knew that perfectly well. It still left her hacked off like _ice_ , and it wasn’t even limited to his year. Apparently the current third years though it alright to lord at the firsties, as, hah, Tony had tied their year together so well it discouraged poking at them. Similar to this, in hindsight painfully obvious, insight, at least about half of the by-way intel was just that, by-way intel, like Tony’s take-over of the first-year girls as her personal court, to which at least a few seemed very amenable. The rest were quiet and withdrawn to their own artistic interests, so ignoring them was easy enough, once one pointed Farley in the direction of the occasionally overbearing habits of certain parties, who really should be better off getting a good start on their new subjects.

Tony’s little pet-snakes, Travers, Davis, and Laybloom, were mostly peaceful, clearly more interested in the gain of status to be had by being seen hanging around with and occasionally tutored by the main heir of the Parkinson line than in making any real trouble. Of the firstie boys it was two that were the actual problem, Harper and Knightley, the other two were simply staying out of it, not interested in drawing fire or getting into trouble by allying with either side. Not that Theodore made any move at all to get allies anyway, so perhaps she should assign more value to their continuing neutrality, even if it still galled her to no end. Irritable as she still was, with Draco and in general, Riko couldn’t help but think that if he were as interested as Tony in expanding solid influence she might not have this exact mess on her hands. But then, in that case she might just have a different, equally annoying mess on her hands, and grumbling about it wasn’t going to help either way. Besides, he had Vingory as minions, and if Tony wanted her own it was only fair enough she look elsewhere than their own room.

The real solution, at least to Theodore’s trouble, once she’d collected the necessary parts of the puzzle, was surprisingly simple, if not easy. Thing was, he was good with hexxing, yes, but not so much with avoiding it, so that’s where she started. Now, protégée or not, she wasn’t going to show him Obscurantis, even if she’d thought it would be the right way. Which it clearly wasn’t. He was pretty brilliant with various things related to thinking straight or in angles, yes, but he did have a penchant for sticking to angles that were as close to rectangular as you could get, and she’d noticed that whenever he had to do anything curved he’d rather use an approximation of a number of angles than just give it a nice, quick swish. Even worse was his reluctance with forks, not the implement, of course, but the idea of splitting his line of magic or thought or whatever. Heck, perhaps it even _had_ to do with the implement and his odd insistence on linear logic. He simply didn’t want to believe that forking a beam did not at all mean the diverging beams had to be smaller or weaker. With how quick he was with most other things, this was just tiresome and of course it meant Charms was the subject he most often had some problem with. Which was really just fantastic, seeing how any kind of notice-me-not was, yeah, exactly, a charm.

It took quite some work and research to make and then go through the not-exactly-short list of different approaches to the field of subterfuge, notice-me-not, and camouflage in wand-based magic, and then it took about just as much work to find, and in the end modify, a few of the easier and more suitable charms, that, firstly, Riko could understand herself and thus, secondly, teach him and reasonably expect him to be able to learn them. And then of course she had to actually teach him, and for that she had to bring it up, first. Because of course he made no freaking mention of his troubles, not even when she dangled openings before him. In the end Riko simply forewent any sort of comment and treated it like it was part of her planned curriculum. By then she had a solid enough understanding of what he knew and how he learned that it wasn’t that hard and he didn’t comment on it either, so that was alright. Probably for the best, really.

At first, well, after the fork-thing, she thought it odd that his Charms-problem seemed to often be a lack of imagination, as he was often stuck when it came to the fun derivations of official theory. Considering how quick and intuitive he was in the other subjects, it’d seemed unlikely. After a while, though, Riko had changed her approach. She’d stopped trying to talk him into understanding her interpretations and jumps to interesting points, instead focussing on what the textbooks said and what she knew Professor Flitwick wanted the students to know; the direct conclusions of the general principles, their immediate applications, and proper practise of every smaller step-stone. He’d got along well enough then, though he still had to ask occasionally. It was, to be honest, a point of pride, that he took to her slimmed-down version of the notice-me-not charms just as well.

Somewhere around trying them first and getting them right, he relaxed enough to let her call him Theo, probably because she’d just entirely ignored the entire baggage of why anyone would need to learn those charms at all. He also didn’t seem to mind the occasional discussion on wards and hexes, which she really appreciated. Firstly, he really had a vicious sharp repertoire of them, specially unpleasant partly transfigurations, and secondly he clearly enjoyed learning new views on wards, and not even only so he could keep his things safe in his room, he actually liked poking at and coming up with new theories. She’d introduced it as a tangent on his Charms-essay and after the third or so example of real-life applications he’d spoken up.

Straight up, almost, well, as straight-up as any Slytherin probably ever got. “Do you really think it relevant to go in quite that much detail over the potentially rather martial application of some obscure points of Charms theory?”

“Theory is important as a base of understanding, and I dare say you’re smart enough to know when a chance for application presents itself,” was all she said drily, and that was that, change of subject, his essay on Potions, which always took a while.

Ironically, although he did well enough in them, he didn’t like Herbology or Potions much. With his memory he hardly ever had a problem, but he could never leave off complaining that they just had too many squishy variables that could trip you up, if you wanted to do it properly. Riko had to grin at that, every time. It was just typical for him to want to do it perfectly and be hindered by the variables of life.

“Well, that’s the way it is with live matters, Theo, you can pretty much forget about perfect planning. Best thing is just having fun with it and staying in the margins of tolerance,” she shot him a wink at that and looked up to where Draco and the rest of the team was currently coming in from the Slytherin Quidditch training.

“Right, is this where you admit you don’t actually have a plan on how to deal with whatever fallout you and Malfoy had?” Theo drawled, very drily.

Riko rather enjoyed that he was so perceptive but sometimes she wondered if she’d keep that appreciation once he was properly integrated in her year and she’d have to deal with him as just another yearmate.

“Hmm, no, actually,” she smiled with real amusement at her positively geriatric thought, decisively incinerating it. “I still have a plan, and unless you suddenly claim some stake in the matter it’s still none of your business.”

He gave her a cheerfully innocent look and let it go. And Riko did have a plan, after all. She’d simply wait for an opportune moment and have some calm words with Malfoy. So far no opportunity had presented itself and the matter wasn’t really relevant enough that she fabricate one. Besides, while he clearly wouldn’t let the matter just pass, she knew Draco was similar enough to her that his ire would mostly deflate on it’s own. He could hold a grudge, yes, but if you gave him a reason he was good at letting it go, too. Hence, waiting was the most logical thing to do.

“And if you want to go into the category of perfect potions then you better go and talk to the Sorrentinos. Besides, perfect is such an imprecise word in regards to Potions, it always depends, after all, which particular aspect you want to focus on. Unless you just want the general effect, in which case it’s simple maximum principle.”

“Yeah, real simple, that,” he grumbled and she grinned back with a shrug.

“Well, obviously you’re not going to do that for a living, so just relax. I’m sure if you tried to optimize a potion you’d go insane within a year.”

“Hmph, goodnight, then,” he mock-grumbled with a small smile.

“Goodnight, too. Sleep is good for staying sane, I heard,” she waved cheerily as he made his way to the dormitories.

Then she turned back to her own projects, drawing out a few older parchments she had filled over the summer and going over them again. Hallowe’en was just a few days away. If no better opportunity presented itself, she’d tell the others over the weekend. It was good to ask later rather than earlier, she knew that, but it’d need testing, so waiting too long just wouldn’t do. She was sure Vi would argue on her side, if it came down to it. And with that, her thought tripped into the next sinkhole, reminding her of her slightly paranoid surveillance project. Theoretically also quite intrusive, but they really had it coming and it did serve a purpose. It’d also yielded a load of splintery info so far, to be worked over again and again. But if the situation were to arise, which was bound to happen sooner or later, Riko now had an arsenal for anonymous tip-offs to Tonks. Riko wondered sometimes who on the MLEP side got the bonus of it, but, well, obvious dead-end, that. It was odd to think she might have to listen to Vi over summer holidays, too, but that was still ages off. She’d come up with a plan until then, definitely, perhaps even ask Vi about it, though she didn’t quite know how. Maybe over the Yule and Christmas holidays when it was just the two of them.

Then, over the next few days of looking forward to Hallowe’en and their own small contribution to the traditional day of pranking, the matter managed to slip Riko’s mind entirely. They’d made a point of continually stalking Filch and putting him and Mrs Norris under the curse of the bogies. It was really just a pretty lame hex from last years Defence book to give someone a runny nose, but it did have the side effect of the targets sense of smell failing pretty badly. This, in turn, fit with their grand plan to coat the schools buckets with a rather ingeniously charmed colour-potion mix that activated only after drying on stone. With the weather still abysmal and it being a Saturday, and a Hogsmeade weekend, where the students from third year up where allowed to visit the village, there were enough of people running around the school in muddy shoes. By evening the Untouchables had a permanent pain in their side from stifling their laughter as they stealthily trailed the hatefully cursing caretaker.

It definitely made for a very colourful mix, with, at least to Riko’s knowledge, not one single bucket left that they hadn’t carefully and individually prepared with all sorts of colours, some even with patterns. If he’d gone to Professor Flitwick or Professor Snape they probably could and would have helped Filch immediately. But instead the raging old scarecrow with his mangy, spiteful cat just cursed up a blue streak whenever he realized the bucket he’d just used wasn’t clean either, and went to look for another. If he hadn’t been in such an obvious and very real bad mood, Riko would’ve thought he secretly enjoyed splattering the entirety of Hogwards’ hallways in the most lurid colours. Peeves certainly seemed to appreciate it, he didn’t even point them out to the obviously deranged caretaker as he streaked by them again. It was a little disturbing that the poltergeist could, unlike normal ghosts, if not really see them through the Obscurantis then at least see that there was something there, but perhaps that could be solved if they managed to strengthen the spell.

By evening they hadn’t done squat for their homework or any of their projects but it was still, without a doubt, a day well-spent. The best part was when the Weasley twins, by general consensus the school’s most skilful and notorious pranksters, came back from Hogsmeade to a spitting mad Filch and at first didn’t even know what he was raving on about, what with his bogged up nose and such an amount of rage bottled up that he was incapable of forming coherent sentences. Riko did regret, a little, that the sour old scarecrow actually tried to put it on the duo but they were well able to dodge it, so that was alright. Otherwise Amy would’ve probably felt obligated to bail them out or something, and then Riko would’ve had to help. After all, if you did a prank and let someone else take the blame then it should be intentional and they should deserve it, too.

Soon, it being a Saturday, the Untouchables were sitting at their usual end of the Hufflepuff table and looking forward to a great Hallowe’en Feast. This time without any previous accidents in Herbology, or trolls or insane and/or possessed Defence-teachers ruining their enjoyment of the first proper holiday of the school year. It certainly promised to be a great feast. The Great Hall had again been decorated with mock-live bats fluttering over the tables, Hagrid’s huge pumpkins had been carved into lanterns big enough for a troll to sit in them and rumour had it that Lockhart had convinced Dumbledore to book a troupe of dancing skeletons for entertainment. They were glad for the opportunity to eat before visiting Nick in the dungeon, because clearly the house-elves had done their very best, as if to make up for last year’s disappointment. Not that it had been the elves’ fault, but, well. Surprise exploding peas giggled insanely before going off in your mouth, glowing orange mashed potatoes looked comically atomic, the roasts howled when you carved them, and the cinnamon-filled pumpkin pies wailed a hysterical “oh no!” when bit.

There were also more ghosts drifting around than Riko had ever before, and they were all glowing brighter than usual, too. Peeves kept busy herding the decoration bats this way and that or throwing an occasional live rocket of firework in the direction of Filch, who looked ready to explode, himself. But as nice as all of this was, Riko kept an eye on her watch, knowing her friends did the same. She was glad when after half an hour or so Lockhart, who was wearing literally glowing orange robes for the day, stood up and waved for silence. Even from the distance Riko could see the white of his giddy gleeful grin, though he seemed rather the exception on the high table with his good mood.

“Happy Hallowe’en!” Lockhart shouted. “In honour of the exciting and entertaining tradition of this day for all of us, I have taken the liberty of arranging a little spectacle for all of you! My good old friend, Marty Stubreaker and his troupe of brilliant scatterers will do their very best to blow you out of your shoes! Let the fun begin!”

As he waved with his usual flair for grand gestures, about two dozen brilliantly white skeletons entered through the two side-doors by the high table. They were dancing a merry jig, and so skilfully that instead of chaotic rattling you really could hear the beat of the song. The Untouchables grinned at each other when they recognized it as one that had been adapted by their current favourite band. And the skeletons didn’t disappoint in the follow-through of their great lead-in, spreading through the hall in smaller groups, making sure everyone had the opportunity to see their outrageous acrobatics, their jaw-juggling, and the absolutely brilliantly timed Bone Explosion. It left the entire Great Hall littered with clicking white bones, which then slowly reassembled themselves, again moving to their own, characteristic beat, of a creel this time.

It was with great reluctance that the Untouchables looked at each other when the skeletons were assembled and moving into groups again. Amy rose first, to go and collect her manes, playfully sticking out her tongue at their grave salutes. Never one to use patience when it wasn’t necessary Riko soon drew her remaining two friends up, just by being more fidgety than a twitching dragonfly. With everyone so entertained it was no trouble at all to slip out the door, their seats were after all closest to it for a reason. Riko was soon incredibly glad for all the practice her warming spells had got. The passageway to Nick’s party had been lined with candles, but they were definitely something else and Riko was chilled, literally, to find they weren’t even corporeal. They were just long, thin, jet-black tapers of nothing and burned an odd bright blue that nevertheless did little to illuminate their surroundings. Indeed, the dim, feeble light it cast over them made her friends look like they were deceased themselves, it was positively creepy.

Also, the further down they went, the colder it got. Usually it wasn’t even that cold during winter, so it had to be an effect of the odd candles, who did feel just like a ghost if you trailed your hand through them, and also, Riko belatedly realized, of all the ghosts trailing around, down here. Even with their warming charms the three of them felt chilled when they reached Nick, who was standing by a doorway hung with black shadowy drapes. They were just about to greet him, when they were interrupted by the sudden sound of what sounded like a thousand nails scraping a giant blackboard. As one, they winced and Edie looked about ready to start bleeding form her ears.

“ _Shite_ , Nick, what the bloody..”

“Riko! Sorry, Nick!” Edie had actually elbowed her, but Riko resolved to keep quiet and let it go. After all, if she of the very best of hearing decided to let it be, who was Riko to argue?

“Hr-hm, my dear friends,” Nick quickly gathered himself, giving them first a wide, pleased grin before he turned serious and mournful, “welcome, welcome.. so pleased you could come..”

And with a grand gesture, he swept off his plumed hat and with it also his head and bowed them inside, drawing back the ghostly drapery so they didn’t have to just walk through it and get all cold..er. He really had manners, and once you got over him acting more like a slightly odd person who had to do without being corporeal than a ghost he was quite alright.

Inside they were met by an incredible sight, even if it was like stepping into a giant freezer, their breath rising in clouds of mist before them. They were in one of the larger dungeons, a vault really, and it was filled with hundreds of pearly-white, translucent people. Most were drifting around a crowded dance floor, waltzing to the haunting, wavering sounds of an orchestra of musical saws that were playing all on their own. A flock of chandeliers overhead blazed freezing midnight blue with more of those creepy blue candles. They hastily moved away form the entrance to not get walked through by other arriving ghosts or collide with the Gryffindors who wouldn’t be far behind. They also strengthened their warming charms, though the effect was less than expected, as if the cold around them wasn’t so much real cold as the idea of it. And Charms didn’t help against ideas, of course, nothing ever did. Except, perhaps..

“Alright then, let’s have a look around and see if we find something to give us warm thoughts,” grinned Riko at her friends. Judging by their answering smiles, they’d had the same, heh, idea.

Too bad the music was so slow, the saws did sound oddly pleasant. If only there were some other instruments to add a beat and let it pick up a bit, they could’ve tried to dance to warm up a little. But a wailing waltz really wasn’t any good for the idea of warming up, now was it?

“Just make sure not to walk through anyone,” remarked Vi drily as they set off and they shared another grin.

Walking by the edge of the dance floor, they passed a group of gloomy nuns, a ragged man wearing nothing but lots of chains and the Fat Friar, the cheerful Hufflepuff ghost, who was talking animatedly to a knight with an arrow sticking out of his forehead. Riko noted that even the Bloody Baron, her own house ghost, was here, though given a wide berth by the other ghosts. After her unpleasant experience with him at last year’s Starting Feast, she chose to lead them in a direction that avoided the gaunt, staring ghost. Riko had no desire to be poked in the head again and his manners were atrocious, not to mention he seemed far too smart to end because someone opened his neck from ear to ear and let him bleed to death. Just, creepy, all in all, and definitely better avoided.

“Riko, stop! That’s Moaning Myrtle over there!” Edie stopped her by grabbing her sleeve and Riko couldn’t fault her, glad her friend had seen it in time.

Myrtle was a squat girl of a ghost and haunted one of the toilets in the first floor. She also liked to wander around the pipes to the other bathrooms, but she mostly stayed put. Unlike most other ghosts she was keen on interacting with people when she saw them but as she was able to feel offended by pretty much everything this was not a good thing for any one involved. Nobody used her toilet because she always found something to wail about if you did, but this year it was even worse. For whatever reason, she kept having tantrums and flooding the place. Well, maybe getting out of there and coming to a party would cheer her up, one never knew.

“Oh, hey, isn’t that..?” Edie had her sleeve again and discreetly pointed to a slender witch in sleek Renaissance robes. She had a large stain of silvery blood on her fine clothing, Riko’d guess she’d died from a belly wound.

“It is! Oh, that’s so great! Let’s go.. that’s the Grey Lady! I never properly met her, only saw her from a distance if at all, last year, and she’s my house ghost!” Then Edie all but dragged them in the direction.

Not that Riko minded, and Vi obviously didn’t, either, but it was really cute to see their friend so excited and, admittedly, also great luck she had such sharp eyes to spot both trouble and opportunity.

“Erm, a very good evening to you, M’lady, Edana Selena Eohyrde at your service and ever so pleased to meet you,” Edie bowed deeply, adding like an explanation, “I’m in your old house.”

The former duellist and scholar had been looking over the mingling silvery crowd with something like boredom, which quickly changed when Edie addressed her. Riko spied a short look of surprise and confusion on her handsome features before it was hidden behind a mask of amusement and courtly manners.

“A pleasant evening then, fledgling. Who are your Yin and Yang? I think I spied you about the eyry, but I dare say I’d remember those two, had I seen them before.”

Riko bowed and introduce herself after noticing Vi’s look telling her to go first. “Kaminariko Arsenia Slyver, m’Lady, and a pleasant night from me as well. I’m in house Slytherin, so that’d explain why you’ve not seen me in the Ravenclaw tower.”

Well, that, the Polyjuice and the glamour, a little voice snickered in the back of her head. Riko also hoped Vi would hurry to introduce herself. If she waited too long and Edie did it for her, she’d be, protocol-wise, a dependant or even follower, introducing oneself traditionally required to be accepted as a valid person in most all cultures. Of course Vi did introduce herself just as efficiently, and the ghost, and she did act much more like a ghost than Nick, eyed them closely for a few moments. Then she gave them another, polite nod, as if only now properly acknowledging them.

“I see now, Nicholas did mention something about a few interesting live guests when he invited me,” she gave them a quick, sharp smile. “There was that matter with his head, just recently, was it not?”

Damn, but she did have an unreadable manner hanging about her vague words, any fae would’ve been right proud. Riko felt a sliver of excitement wriggle inside her and couldn’t help but throw a similar smile right back. It reminded her a little of how Eliria-sensei had mentioned that the old term blue-blooded for courtly persons had been leaned from the fae, too. Edie seemed unsure what to say, so Riko had no qualms to jump in.

“Oh, yes, that was in April, and quite a remarkable evening it was. We’re still missing a few of the involved though, so I wouldn’t presume to try and make a tale of it, yet.”

They traded a look of salute, for lack of better term, and Riko felt emboldened enough to open the next best subject, the one she felt everyone would be most interested in, especially Vi.

“So, we heard you were a brilliant duellist, I mean, you developed that two-syllables-twitch-it-back-riposte in an ongoing fight, and there’s still the helenistic way of duelling around. Perhaps you could tell us some of your exploits, because Vi here is going to be the best shot of this age and what with all the adventures you surely had..”

Soon they were deep in conversation, actual conversation, because Helena Headway was only to glad to get distracted by every awed comment and tangent and she did have a great number of absolutely hilarious stories. Riko did catch a few humouring looks from her, now and then, as if the ghost was simply amused to play a little with them wee little students, but the result was worth it, so what did she care? Lady Headway, reportedly also called the Headway Hellion as she’d kept the nickname from before she’d had a wand right until she fronted her own club of duellists, was also a great one for word-games and kennings, and she had such a grand hoard of them that Riko decided to try and hunt the ghost down for repeat conversations. There just _had_ to be a way, seriously!

Paying such close attention, Riko noticed quickly when the Lady started to occasionally glance around, though she still portrayed polite amusement at them. Which made perfect sense, after all here was a number of ghosts that had probably travelled quite a ways to get here, while they, being students, were bound to stay around a while. It was easy to end the conversation with much courtesy from both sides and the Lady glided off. Riko had kept an eye on the Baron and Myrtle and they hadn’t moved. Meandering in the only direction that was left, they drifted towards a large table, covered with shadowy-black drapes and decked out with a number of platters and bowls. It looked, once they got closer, utterly disgusting, but the smell was even worse. Riko only hoped the house-elves hadn’t stored that stuff anywhere near the food for the living. Large rotten fish were laid out on handsome silver platters that had Edie skirt it all uncomfortably; cakes, burned charcoal black, were heaped on large wooden boards; there was a great maggoty haggis, some wheels of cheese covered in furry green mould and, in pride of place, an enormous mildewed-grey cake in the shape of a tombstone, with tar-like icing forming the words,

_Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington_

_died 31 st  October, 1492 _

They watched, amazed, as a portly ghost approached the table, stepped down into the ground so it was up to his knees and walked through the table so his open mouth passed through one of the stinking salmon.

“What does it taste like, when you do that?” Riko asked in a bout of weird fascination that let her forget her manners entirely.

“Very faint,” sighed the ghost, luckily not offended, and drifted away.

“I expect they’ve let it rot to give it a stronger flavour,” came suddenly Amy’s voice from their left, making Riko jerk and turn quickly.

Her friend was pinching her nose and leaning closer to the putrid haggis. Vi and Edie were giving amused looks to both Riko, for her distraction, and to Potter and his Weasley, who were looking like they didn’t want to be here after all. Come to think of it, they were shivering like mad. The Boy Who Lived (despite his insanity) looked like he was clenching his teeth to keep them from clattering and Weasley was slowly turning a light green as he eyed the food. Ever since the scene in Professor Snape’s office, the two of them had been grumpily, coldly ignoring Vi and her, which really was quite unreasonable, Riko thought, but as miserable as they looked she couldn’t stop her curiosity.

“Say, don’t you know any warming charms? You look like you’re going to freeze to the spot there..”

Besides, it was a nice way to rile them up without having to worry about some sort of Gryffindor explosion, cut off as they were from the rest of their house down here. And it was for their own good, too, because if Amy learned they didn’t even know simple warming charms, she was bound to teach them faster’n you could say icicle. Weasley looked at her like he wanted to make her head explode, but Potter put his hand on his arm and only ground out “None of your business“ in their vague direction. How disappointing. Riko as just about to stoke the fire a little and see if she could get a more entertaining reaction, when Edie was again at her side.

“Can we move a little?” She looked a little green around the edges, and Riko almost slapped her forehead with a groan. Of course her friend would suffer far more from the disgusting smell that hung around the table.

“Right, of course, sorry, Edie!” Riko replied equally quietly, because if she had to be an idiot she could at least be a discreet one, and so she had no trouble at all overhearing Ron Weasley’s loud comment.

“Can we move?” he said, “I feel sick.”

He did look as green around the gills as Edie, but the angry stare he was directing at the three of them made clear what he was trying to be smart about. Considering his tendency to lose coherency and draw his wand or even launch himself at whatever annoyed him (usually Draco), perhaps it actually should count as smart.

Amy shot her idiot friend a disapproving look and then an apologetic one at them. As if they’d hold him against her, seriously. Distracted as she was by finding them a good route to a point that had a decent distance form the table but remained in the safe zone around it and looking to avoid walking into any of the heedlessly drifting ghosts, Riko much appreciated Vi’s immediate comeback guarding their retreat.

“Yes, let’s move,” the Hufflepuff drawled, “Seems like any other party, you always run into the most unpleasant people at the buffet, I’m talking painful experience..”

“I have to agree with that one, though at the family functions I’ve been so far, it was usually the most boring and stuffy people that were always circling the buffet..” Edie jumped in, her voice more smooth than Vi’s dry tone but no less efficient at heckling, even with the self-irony in it.

Riko could hear Amy’s sigh even over the bit of distance the two trios had put between them. She’d turned her back on the two Gryffindors and Riko saw her lips twitch in an involuntary smile before she caught herself and shot the three of them a rather mild eye-roll.

“Well, children,” Nick had drifted through the crowd towards them, and effectively breaking up their potential argument. He was looking around proudly. “Are you enjoying yourselves?”

They all nodded quickly, and Riko, quite glad for a change of conversation company, very pointedly looked away from the two Gryffindor friends of Amy. “Yes, it’s fantastic, we even got to talk to Lady Headway! Say, do you know who that lady she is laughing with is, over there?”

Nick seemed very pleased and gave them all a smile that was more enthusiastic than dashing, but either way quite impressive. After a quick look over there, he nodded, stroking his beard very carefully so as not to upset his head.

“Ah, yes, that’s the Wailing Widow, she came over all the way from Kent. It’s really quite a turnout. Currently I’m waiting for my fellow horsemen to arrive. They said they were going to be a bit late, they had a game down over the channel. See, I wanted to properly celebrate of course, and entertain my guests, so I arranged for nice game of Head Hockey once they turn up. That always warms everyone right up, and afterwards the socializing goes better, as well..”

“Oh, that’s brilliant, Nick! Are you going to play, too?” Amy gushed happily. After last year’s adventures she’d taken to the ghost as if he was an abandoned cat and favourite uncle at the same time, which was probably a Gryffindor thing, Riko thought. Not that she didn’t appreciate the prospect of a game or anything.

“Yes, indeed and then..” But Nick broke off when the sound of a hunting horn rang through the dungeons, making the orchestra fall silent and the guests look around in excitement.

“Ah, here we go,” he said with a light grin.

And through the dungeon wall burst a dozen ghost horses, each ridden by a headless horseman. The assembly clapped wildly and Riko thought she saw a look of great irony flit over Nicks face before he drew himself up proudly and looked around with obvious pleasure. The horses galloped into the middle of the dance floor and halted, rearing and plunging; a large ghost at the front, whose bearded head was under his arm, blowing the horn, leapt down, lifted his head high in the air so he could see over the crowd (everyone laughed) and strode over to Nearly Headless Nick, squashing his head back onto his neck.

“Nick!” the newcomer roared. “Best wishes! I see you managed quite a feast and without losing your head, too!”

He gave a hearty guffaw and clapped Nick on the shoulder, causing his head to roll off. It had the air of a common occurrence, though, especially with the practised manner in which Nick caught his head in one hand and swept it back on, bowing as if he’d just drawn his hat (the crowd clapped and laughed).

“Welcome, Patrick,” said Nick, with a dry grin that was very Vi.

“Live ’uns!” exclaimed Sir Patrick then, upon spotting the six of them, and gave a huge, fake jump of astonishment, so that his head fell off again (the crowd howled with laughter).

“Well then,” boomed Sir Patrick’s head from the floor. “Let’s get this party started.”

And his body gave a very old, and of course ghostly looking, hockey stick to Nick, taking one for himself, and off they went, hitting their heads sailing in all directions. It created a lot of confusion, with the other headless horsemen joining in and some of the guests that had been present already turning out to be headless horsemen, too, who had just been waiting for the rest of their club to arrive. It was of course brilliant fun but in all the chaos it was patently impossible not to run through or be run through by the other guests, which was not only bad form but also very unpleasant. Looking around to get a better grip of the situation, Riko decided it was time for an ordered retreat. This was obviously Head Hockey free-form and thus there was no good place to retreat to and still watch. Most of the ghostly crowd were busy cheering, but they needn’t worry about running through each other, after all.

“Alright then, let’s go,” Riko said, and the Untouchables made for the exit, trying to stay as close as possible to the wall on their way out.

Well, one member was missing, but Riko caught sight of Amy and her two Gryffindor friends heading in the same direction, though they were cutting directly across the room. Even so, they weren’t far behind the Gryffindors when they at last made it to the exit, having one last cold shiver as they now had to walk directly through the ghostly curtain. Shaking herself dramatically, Riko set a brisk path to catch up, already back in full entertainment mode. If they couldn’t watch the Head Hockey, they’d just have to find some other fun.

“Let’s go for the Great Hall,” she said after checking her watch, “They probably haven’t finished yet, and I bet you anything there’s still some sort of prank or explosion to be had..”

“Yeah, the Weasley Twins didn’t do anything yet, so it’s bound to be really big and loud, when they do,” Vi agreed with a grin.

“Hm, hope we didn’t miss it, already,” Edie added, smiling when this caused them all to hurry their steps even more.

And then Riko heard it.

“ _..rip ..tear ..kill..”_

It was again so faint she almost thought she’d imagined it, if it hadn’t been for the sudden shivers the sheer cold and power in the voice caused her. She held her breath, stopping in mid-stride, and concentrated on listening. Her involuntary use of the ninja-sonar didn’t show anything overly odd.

Further up she could hear Weasley’s worried “Harry, what’re you ..?” and almost immediately after that Vi beside her “Oi, Riko, what..?” as her two friends looked back to her after her sudden stop.

Riko put one finger on her lips and they fell quiet with looks of wide interest. They could all hear Potter’s voice echo down to them. “It’s that voice again – shut up a minute..”

Riko wished he’d shut up himself, how was she supposed to hear anything with him babbling on?

“ _.. so hungry .. for so long..”_

Riko couldn’t suppress another shiver at this voice, very similar but also entirely different.

“Listen!” rang Potter’s voice through the corridor and Riko grit her teeth to not shout at him to shut up and listen, himself. That would do no good at all.

“ _.. kill .. time to kill ..”_

And that was the other voice again, the one that sounded like glacial, insane murder. Riko felt her heart pound and her hair prick, falling into quicktime as adrenaline flooded her system. She didn’t dare breath, busy listening and categorizing the results. This killing voice was further away, upwards, probably, from the echoes.

“This way,” she could hear Potter’s shout and then his thundering steps as he raced off.

Clenching her jaw shut and wishing for a silencing hex she drew a sharp breath and charged in the same direction, her friends trailing her closely, as did Amy and Weasley for Potter ahead. They rounded a few corners that way and Riko almost fell over when she heard a voice from farther down, behind them, but it was the hungry, lost one again. It drifted past them and to the front like fog on a breeze.

“ _.. why .. I smell blood .. noo .. I SMELL BLOOD!”_

It sounded mostly scared but also furious, now, and Riko felt her stomach lurch, even more so when just a moment later she heard Potter shout “It’s going to kill someone!”

Dammit to all the hells and nether regions, this was going to be the unicorn all over again! Cursing she raced after the Gryffindors, they had to find a way to stop him, why didn’t Amy do something? They swung round the corner to the stairs leading into the Entrance Hall, slowly gaining on the three insane demented mane-brains, who were already up the stairs. A shrill, ringing scream echoed down, clearly from inside the Entrance Hall. Hurtling up the stairs like their lives depended on it, Riko managed only barely to stay ahead of Edie. Ahead, there was now a loud roaring of many voices and the trampling of feet. Then, just as they reached the landing it faded and by the time they neared the doorway it sounded like a damn snake pit with all the excited whispers.

Riko’s paranoid nature had her draw up an Obscurantis on pure instinct, getting ready to enter an unknown and likely dangerous situation. She’d grabbed her two friends and they immediately caught onto her plan. Feeling reasonably safe, they at last skidded round the corner into the giant, yet currently crowded Entrance Hall. Where, caught in a wide circle in a jostling crowd, stood Amy and her two insane Gryffs. Near them cowered a shaking Ginny Weasley, who was spared the embarrassment of looking completely fish-eyed and gaping by being violently ill. On the wall, being stared at as much as the four Gryffindors, was a spectacle both disgusting and mysterious. Foot-high words were painted on the wall behind which Riko knew the teacher’s lounge to be, shimmering a sick rusty-red in the flickering light of the few torches in the large room.

_THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED_

_ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE_

Even at the distance Riko could make out the not-quite-metallic smell hanging around the wall and a look at Edie’s white face told her it was indeed written in blood. This wasn’t the only thing on the wall, though. From an unused torch bracket directly below the grisly letters hung, entirely unmoving and her eyes wide and staring, Mrs Norris, suspended by her tail. A shocked silence started to spread now, as the people at the front realized just what they were seeing and had already passed it onto those behind them in excited whispers. Then someone shouted through the quiet.

“Enemies of the heir, beware! You’ll be next, Mudbloods!”

Draco had pushed to the front of the crowd, his grey eyes sparkling with glee and his usually pale face flushed as he grinned at the sight of the hanging, immobile cat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think the skeleton performance and Nick´s game were inspired by the awesome Laocoons children from copperbadge, just to point credit where it´s due =)


	11. The Writing on the Wall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No, but really, what does it mean? And what IS going on? It is not a very good prank, sure, but it´s just the temporary loss of a menace of a cat that really everyone can do better without. (Except Finch, but, well..) Well, there´s no denying it is a mystery, and it may take some effort, but the Untouchables are not going to let this go. It´s the principle of the thing, is what it is, even if they do have other things to do as well, that have inherently a higher priority than a bad prank..

“What’s going on? What’s with all the fuss? And who’s been flooding the bloody loo..” Filch rushed in from the corridor to the lower courtyard, obviously attracted by all the noise. He broke off when he saw Mrs Norris hanging there, his face going slack with shock.

“No! My cat! What happened to my cat? Mrs Norris!” he shrieked, his eyes wide with horror. Then he noticed Potter. “You!” he screeched, “You killed her! You murdered my cat! You.. I’ll kill you, I’ll.. ”

“Argus!”

Dumbledore and the other teachers had arrived, the students parting easily before the headmaster as he swept forward to take and took the stiff cat down from the torch bracket. McGonagall had stopped by Ginny Weasley’s cowering, shivering form, but her eyes were on the headmaster and Mrs Norris. Madam Pomfrey appeared by her side, putting a gentle hand on Ginny’s other shoulder and already mumbling spells as she aimed her wand at the girl. Meanwhile, Dumbledore had the cat under his arm and was clearly not going to put up with any more crazy public performances today. He gave a grave nod to Professor Snape and McGonagall, before addressing the entire congregation.

“All students are to return to their houses, prefects, please!” He turned, continuing. “Argus, come with me. You too, Mr Potter, Mr and Miss Weasley, Miss Granger.”

Riko absently drew her brows at his lack of courtesy to Amy, but kept watching the scene with sharp eyes, trying to not miss anything and waiting for an opportune moment..

Then Lockhart stepped forward eagerly and Riko realized she wasn’t the only one doing those two things.

“My office is reached fastest, Headmaster, and clearly I should be able to help, with my experience, be a pleasure to..”

“Thank you, Gilderoy,” Dumbledore nodded, heading straight up the stairs, Lockhart following only a step behind, looking excited and important in his usual over-the-top way.

The students parted from their path, already being herded by the combined power of the prefects so that Amy and the two crazy-heads had no trouble following the so differently colourful duo. After them trailed a desolate and miserable looking Ginny Weasley, helped along by Madam P and her helpful hand under her elbow. Exchanging worried looks, and then quelling any thought of mischief in the loitering students with nearly identical frowns, the heads of house Slytherin and Gryffindor followed the group up the big staircase.

Clearly, this was their chance. If they could manage to always have someone between them and Dumbledore they’d be able to learn what was going on here. They darted forward together, Edie and Vi in step with her as they ghosted up the stairs after the odd procession. Having stayed into contact so far proved to be invaluable as they divided the potential cover among them to avoid running into each other later.

Riko immediately pointed at her own head of house, following a sense of obligation that she couldn’t quite explain. She owed him that, sort of, even if she felt she was betraying him a little, too. But she knew her friends would feel better if they didn’t have to be the ones to do it, and Riko thought that if he did have to be used as cover by someone he’d probably rather it was one of his. Edie pointed at Madam P, a conflicted look on her face that told Riko she probably had similar thoughts about it. Vi shot them a stony look and Riko could understand only too well. McGonagall, Filch, or Lockhart, what a selection! After all, they already knew that Lockhart had decent instincts, Filch was obviously even more crazy and unpredictable than usual, and McGonagall, well, she was McGonagall. With a grim face Vi chose McGonagall, though her vague gestures made clear she reserved the right to slip behind any of the other two at any time. Riko felt that was only fair.

Even so they were fortunate to not get noticed when they entered the office, as they had to dart in front of Professor Snape and McGonagall to not get locked out. This in turn, made it necessary to overtake Ginny and Madam P, because the two heads of house were almost on the heals of those two, all but guarding them, while the mediwitch was sticking to a speed that would not tax her charge overly much. Essentially without cover, Riko knew her friends slipped into quicktime just as she did as they entered the room on the heels of Amy and her two insane friends. It was the first time they saw Lockhart’s office and they’d need a clear idea of the layout to manage this, after all.

As they entered the dark office, Riko saw a great number of Lockharts in pictures around the office hastily dodge out of sight, their hair in rollers. They were lucky the real Lockhart only lighted the candles on his desk with a sleight of hand, and that Dumbledore was so busy eyeing Mrs Norris, deposited on the polished wooden desktop. It allowed them to step to the side of the door and wait for their covers to arrive. Amy and her two crazy-heads had collapsed into chairs that were also outside the small island of candlelight, exchanging tense looks.

Ye gods, what were they going try and say? They did have Amy along, and she was brilliant at this sort of thing, for a Gryffindor, but Riko feared it was far more likely they would drag her friend down into whatever mess they’d make of this matter, or already had, or, well, whatever. This, all of this, was clearly bad, even if it was also very interesting, as a mystery.

Edie broke from her side as Madam P bustled Ginny into the room, sitting beside her charge and conjuring a blanket and a small goblet of water which the girl took into trembling hands but managed to slowly drink from. Then Professor Snape and McGonagall entered and Riko shared a tense look with Vi before they split to trail their respective cover.

Riko was somewhat annoyed that her head of house held to his usual habit of staying on the fringe and observing. In contrast McGonagall was standing right beside the headmaster, both bent over the cat, examining it so closely their noses almost touched its fur. Filch was slumped in a chair, head in hands and skeletal frame shaking with dry, racking sobs. Riko couldn’t quite stop herself from feeling sympathy for the usually so spiteful man. Meanwhile, Lockhart was hovering around the table, making all sorts of suggestions for the cause of death, jabbering about Transmogrifian Torture Spells and similar occurrences in Ougadougou and in which book he talked about the things he’d done to solve it with amulets. It was odd to see that even though of course there were students present he also seemed to be playing the same game of “come underestimate me” with the teachers. He had, after all, not even taken one closer look at the cat, as if he didn’t really want to help at all.

“She’s not dead, Argus,” Dumbledore at last pronounced softly but with great authority as he straightened up. It completely stopped Lockhart’s recount of all the murders he had prevented. There was a moment of breathless silence in the room.

“Not dead?” choked Filch, obviously wrestling with himself to look up at the stiff body of his familiar. “But she’s not.. why’s she all stiff and cold?”

Lockhart already opened his mouth in the background, though everyone was of course stll focussed on the headmaster.

“She is petrified,” (“Ah, I thought so!” added Lockhart) said Dumbledore, looking very worried. “But how I cannot say..”

“Ask him, then!” shrieked Filch, turning his blotched, tear-stained face to point at Potter.

“No second year could possibly do this,” declared Dumbledore firmly. “It would take very advanced Dark magic to actually..” (The Lockharts had returned to their frames and were nodding vigorously, one of them still with his hairnet on.)

“He did it, he did it all!” Filch spat, turning purple in his temper. “You saw what he put on the wall! He found.. he knows.. I’m a.. I’m a..” he ground his teeth. “He knows I’m a squib!” he hurled like a curse of the worst kind.

There was another moment of silence, tense and oddly embarrassed, until Potter spoke up as most everyone was watching him intently. He looked a mix between panic and embarrassment.

“I never touched Mrs Norris! And I don’t even know what a Squib is.”

Riko felt her eyebrows rise at that (and it not being a lie at all) but her thought were interrupted when Filch snarled a vicious “Rubbish! He saw my Kwikspell letter!”

Potter continued to look utterly clueless and panicked at the outburst and Riko felt almost, almost sorry for the helpless heroic git. It would explain why Filch was so hateful of the students, seeing as he was the exact opposite of a muggleborn.

“If I might speak, Headmaster,” said Professor Snape then, from his place in the shadows and Riko shrunk back into the deeper dark behind him.

He had damn good instincts, her head of house, at least as good at Lockhart’s, but he didn’t telegraph when he felt something, it was only visible in a sharper tilt to his shoulders. She’d been forced to draw up a shift of shadows to cloak her presence just so she could use him as any sort of cover. But if Dumbledore now looked in his direction the headmaster might actually spot her shadow-black-on-black cover if she didn’t hide behind something corporeal.

“Potter and his friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Professor Snape went on, and Riko could actually hear the sneer in his voice at the absurdity of this theory, “but there is some reason for suspecting foul play. After all, someone had to do it and it rather begs the question why they were there at all, instead of at the feast, and with their wands drawn, too.”

At that Amy and her two Gryffie nutters immediately launched into a muddled group explanation about the Deathday Party, “there were hundreds of ghosts, they’ll tell you we were there“, and “..until the Head Polo, we talked with Nick right when it started..”, “Got too cold and crowded, so we left for the Great Hall..”, and most interestingly “..were just going back up the stairs when we heard a scream in the Entrance Hall so we had to draw our wands.”

That last was of course Amy, being entirely truthful and offering up her own coloured version of it at the same time. It was interesting and, well, honourable, that not one of the Gryffindors mentioned the Untouchables even once. Courteous, even, and now she might sort of owe them, didn’t she, ugh. Well, not the time to dwell on it now and here, seriously. Riko was glad to note her cueroscope didn’t even twitch once, but even so she could tell what Amy was doing just from the way her friend proudly tensed her jaw. She’d have to talk to her about tells, might be good to have her friends watch her for it, too. But back to the now..

“Really, now..” Professor Snape’s silk-over-steel voice purred. “and what pray tell did you find or do once you’d raced directly towards the fearful scream in the Entrance Hall.”

His tone made very clear what he thought of any student being so reckless, offering the choice of thinking them bold-faced liars or utterly insane. Riko felt it was probably more the question itself than his implications that made them fall quiet and look uncomfortably at Ginny.

The redhaired girl was almost entirely hidden under the big blanket but she did look absolutely done in. Her skin was a waxy white, her lips a very unhealthy shade of grey-blue, and she was still shivering. None-the-less she drew herself up and tried to answer calmly despite the tears that were silently coursing down her cheeks.

“I found it, they weren’t even there yet, they just came after, ’cause I screamed I think, I wasn’t.. I wasn’t feeling good and I wanted to go to the loo, and at first I thought I was just imagining the smell but then I saw it and..” She shivered even more, so much that some water spilled from her goblet, but she didn’t notice, her colour turning a sickly green.

Madam Pomfrey immediately aimed her wand at her, mumbling a spell and then addressing a calming stream of demands to breath deeply at the girl. Simultaneously, the mediwitch was looking over the bowed head of her charge with a sharp glint in her eyes that promised great pain to anyone even trying to bother her patient.

Dumbledore, clearly knowing to pick his battles, nodded wisely, going even so far as to stroke his beard, before declaring in a calm, warm voice, “Well, that solves at least one part of the mystery. Mr Potter, Mr Weasley, Miss Granger, you can go now.”

The three of them didn’t waste a moment in their hurried retreat, which meant they were of course far too fast to be followed. Not that Riko would have, obviously there was still information to be had here, she’d be mad to want to leave now!

Filch looked ready to spit nails at the development and turned wrathfully towards the headmaster before the three Gryffindors were even out the door. “Someone petrified my cat! There’s got to be some punishing for that, and befouling the castle right there in the bloody Entrance Hall!”

“Of course, Argus, but evidently those three arrived only after the fact,” was Dumbledore’s unperturbed reply. “We can only hope that Miss Weasley may be able to recall something of interest, though perhaps it might be better to delay this until she has recovered a little..”

He’d clearly added that last bit in reaction to the truly draconian look Madam Pomfrey shot him, but Ginny Weasley had obviously enough of being treated like an invalid. She proudly raised her chin, her eyes mostly dry though her colour was still looking just this side of dead.

“I wish I could help, I really do, headmaster, but it all happened so fast and I wasn’t exactly paying attention,” she looked very embarrassed now and the blush that was sneaking on her face made her look even more sickly. “I’ve been feeling kinda off all day, but I thought it wasn’t anything serious and I really wanted to go to the feast. But after a while it was just too much, I guess..” she broke off, biting her lips looking terribly ill at ease. “I’m so sorry, if I’d looked around I might’ve seen something, but the smell, and the cat there, and I always liked cats..”

“Quite alright, Miss Weasley,” Dumbledore interrupted her kindly, “though I think you should stay in Madam Pomfrey’s care tonight. Should you happen to recall anything, anything at all, at a later time, please do not hesitate to speak up. But now I think you should really get some rest.”

“Quite right!” came Madam Pomfrey’s brisk comment and the mediwitch carefully ushered her charge out of the room. Riko made a mental note to congratulate Edie on her fantastic feat of stealth as her friend flawlessly exited the room with her cover.

“So that’s it, then?” exclaimed Filch bitterly. “No witness, no punishment, is that what they’re supposed to learn?’

“It is all but impossible to find the culprit with only the information we currently have, Argus,” said Dumbledore patiently, “and we will be able to cure Mrs Norris in time, too.”

He gave the distressed caretaker only a scant moment to adjust to what was clearly news to the man before leading the talk away from the subject of wild punishing to a more calm state of mind. Well, trying to at least, Riko doubted Filch had anything even crudely resembling a calm state of mind.

“Professor Sprout has some Mandrakes growing in her Greenhouse even now,” he explained, “as soon as they have matured, it will be only a matter of brewing the potion that will revive her, there will no lingering trace of the ordeal..”

“Oh, I’ll make it, no problem,” Lockhart butted in then, clearly keen to reassert himself in the situation. “I must have done it a hundred times, I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep..”

“Excuse me,” interrupted Professor Snape him icily, “but I believe I am the Potions master at this school.”

There was an awkward pause. Riko, luring carefully from behind the cover of her head of house, thought she saw a look of overly innocent hilarity flicker through Lockhart’s eyes, as if he’d scored a hit at baiting. McGonagall had raised one eyebrow, a corner of her mouth clearly trying very hard to not move upwards.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. “Now, Argus, I think it might be best if you take Mrs Norris and store her as comfortably as possible. I’ll be sure to let you know as soon as the potion is finished..”

Filch rose in one abrupt move, making perfectly clear what he thought of the lack of wholesale punishment with his gritted teeth and curt “Headmaster” in lieu of any real goodbye. Handling the stiff Mrs Norris with the greatest care, as if the miserable old menace of a beast were suddenly made of fine china, he strode out the door, banging it closed.

Dumbledore gave a weary sigh and concentrated, of all things, on Professor Snape, making Riko hastily jerk back into cover.

“Severus, we should first find out what sort of blood was used in this gross act of vandalism,” he shook his head. “It might even give us a clue to follow, for this is one Hallowe’en prank I find in utterly bad taste.”

There was an odd sort of silence after this and Riko wished like anything she could see what was going on. Hopefully Vi could catch something of whatever was left unsaid just then.

“Certainly, headmaster, I took a small sample at the scene, it’ll take hardly any time once I’m down in my..”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary, I’m sure,” Lockhart’s cheerful voice chimed in again. “If you don’t need anything overly exotic, I’m sure my small cabinet can provide you well enough. It’s a bit of a habit of mine, to be prepared for the most common eventualities..”

While he was still talking, he already bustled over to one of the large cabinets and, after opening it with a thick key, took out a large tray, looking back expectantly. Riko didn’t even need to see anything, Professor Snape’s voice showed his disdain clearly enough.

“I would have thought you knew the ingredients for this sort of thing well enough, but of course there is no accounting for man who is so used to having to improvise,” he pronounced the last word with a saccharine distaste that Riko left unreasonably stung even as he coldly listed the ingredients he required, obviously hoping Lockhart would be unable to deliver. “Aconite of course, and some protein, heart if you have it, centaur’s hair, and unicorn dung, powdered if you please.”

“Right, right, here we are, I dare say mouse hearts should do well enough,” was Lockhart’s unperturbed, even cheerful reply. He was definitely an odd bird, no doubt.

As Snape was gliding forward, towards the tablet on the big desk, Riko felt a frisson of excitement and quickly worked to suppress it. It wouldn’t do to trigger instincts by becoming notable now, of all times. She forced herself ruthlessly to focus only on staying calm and undetected. McGonagall had taken a few steps back so hopefully Vi would be able to see what was going on. It felt like hours of ominous sounds until she heard Dumbledore ask in a startled sort of voice. “Chicken blood? How traditional..”

“But that must have been quite a lot of chicken..” McGonagall pointed out in a wary tone that suggested she rather detested the very idea.

“Indeed,” was Dumbledore’s unusually grave reply. “I shall have to ask Hagrid if he knows anything, and of course discreetly enquire in Hogsmeade if there have been any.. incidents..”

“Oh, I can do that, no problem, I was going to go round to the village tomorrow anyway,” jingled Lockhart’s voice light-heartedly, as if the matter was no reason to get all serious.

And Riko actually felt herself inclined to agree. She wanted to know what the hell the writing on the wall was about, of course, and who had done it, but if the worst thing that happened was a few dead chicken and a petrified menace of a cat, she was still prepared to call it a Happy Hallowe’en. At least there was no damn troll trying to kill any friends of her, and no possessed teacher trying to steal unique artefacts idiotically stored here for safety or baiting.

“Very well,” agreed Dumbledore in a mild tone. “I shall have a look if Hagrid is still awake, then. Goodnight, all.”

And with this he left, giving Riko a moment of near-heart-attack as she managed only barely to keep her head of house between the source of Dumbledore’s voice and herself. Bloody _shite_ , did he have to move so damn quickly?

“Yes, indeed, goodnight, my dear colleagues, unless I could tempt you into a few drinks of rather good quality, if I may say so myself,” teased Lockhart, he really did, and what the hell was it with his odd humour?

“No thank you,” the two Professors answered identically and made for the door.

Vi and Riko shared a glance of absurd amusement and resolution. And with a slightly miffed look Vi trailed the two Professors out, while Riko retreated to an out-of-the way niche near the door. Not that she learned anything interesting. Lockhart only shook his head lightly with a bemused expression, moving to close the door and lock it with a heavy key.

He murmured something like “chamber of secrets, really now” but then only shook himself before stretching with obvious exhaustion and then called out, “Philly!” And after only a few moments, a house elf appeared in a puff of smoke, giving a very enthusiastic sort of bow.

“Professor Lockhart sir, be you needing anything?” he squeaked, favouring him a warm smile.

Riko watched with analytical interest as he asked him in a friendly manner to "please clean up the gunk on his desk and leave off the rest, y’know, just get a good nights rest." He seemed rather fond of the elf, and although she knew she had a rather limited pool of examples so far, he was definitely the first wizard Riko saw actually treating a house elf like a normal person. Then he left through a door that clearly led to his private quarters and Riko was not insane enough to actually follow him in there, thank you very much. Instead she stood stock-still while Philly jumped on a chair to look at the desktop, then snipped his fingers and a moment later disappeared in a small puff of smoke again. Riko made sure the coast was clear outside and, pinging only two well-known presences, slipped into the shadows and under the door. Easy enough, she was already wrapped in them, and as she stepped back out into corporeality, she was already putting a finger to her lips. Knowing where they were, she could still see her invisible friends, and they obligingly turned away while she obscured herself again.

“Nothing overly interesting inside,” Riko whispered, shooting a questioning look at Vi. Her friend shook her head with a disgruntled look, so obviously McGonagall and Snape hadn’t mentioned anything among each other, either.

“Vi already told me, so we can just grab Amy at breakfast tomorrow,” whispered Edie and they all nodded, whispering their goodnights.

Riko was glad for Vi’s steady, peaceful silence on their way down to the dungeons. She wasn’t entirely sure yet but apparently only Potter and her had heard the voice and the idea of having anything that troublesome in common with the utterly insane and clueless Boy Who Lived did not inspire anything but worry or even dread.

But as she neared the entrance to her house, after giving a warm and grateful goodnight to Vi, Riko forced herself to put it to the back of her mind for now. First she had to handle whatever was going on in her house. Clearly, Draco knew what this chamber and heir was supposed to be and she didn’t, which was already a disadvantage. Then there was the fact she couldn’t be sure of not catching trouble for being out on her own and coming in only now. How tiresome, really!

And then Draco, shouting about mudbloods again! Riko felt just too damn tired already to explode at the stupid git again, but it did feed the resentment that was still lingering in the niche belonging to all matters Malfoy. Which was tiresome in itself because she really didn’t like carrying around pointless resentments, they were _such_ a waste of damn energy. Consequently, Riko was very relieved when the small antechamber of the lair was empty, no prefect waiting for her, giving her the chance to remain obscured as she looked over the common room. It was already after midnight but at last half her house was still up, clustered in small groups, obviously talking about what had happened.

Observing, Riko thought about just sneaking around a little, try to overhear something useful. But she was already pretty damn tired and to simply hope to pass some people talking actually useful facts didn’t seem promising. Then she spotted Theo, sitting in their usual corner, almost hidden behind a massive book and under the notice-me-not she’d taught him. And, well, if she couldn’t ask Tony what the hell was going on in her own damn house, then perhaps her smart little protégée had already overheard something or even knew what it was all about. He did give a nice, almost comical start when she cheerfully broke her Obscurantis with a light-hearted “Hey there, Theo!”

Oddly enough, his face was closed off in a way she hadn’t seen in a while from him, once he deigned to take down the book. She had looked around it, before slipping into her usual chair, and he’d looked almost fearful, though pridefully desolate was probably a nicer term.

“So, what’s going on now? S’like a wasps nest in here and I know tomorrow’s free but shouldn’t people be in their dorms, y’know, after midnight and all that?”

He looked at her with a mix of disbelief and suspicion, and Riko decided and settled into being entirely clueless and get him to tell her what was going on. Hopefully it would include at least some sort of clue as to why he seemed so bothered.

“Where were you?” he started, and, whoa, that had to be some bother!

He usually kept out of her personal exploits, so Riko gave him a mildly surprised look, answering honestly with “Completely Headless Nick had his five-hundredth deathday today, didn’t I tell you that? I was at his Deathday Party, he invited me a few weeks ago at his game of Head Polo.”

It took some serious work to have Theo tell her any proper details of what had happened; he repeated Professor Snape’s address on the proper use of caution and manners in this situation etcetera verbatim but professed absolutely no knowledge regarding any heir or chamber. The most depressing thing was that Riko was so tired she wasn’t even completely sure he was honest. Well, she knew he had some theories but she was too damn tired to coax it out of him, for now. She went to bed.

*

“You’re insane. Utterly and completely and in all other ways inconceivably insane,” were Amy’s first words after they’d brought her up to speed at breakfast.

It was still very early and they were talking French, so Riko almost felt a little stung. Admittedly, there had been about two seconds as she curled into her bed, when she _had_ questioned the, well, wisdom of their actions. None of the three of them wanted, or could deal well, with any sort of attention on their case, least of all by getting caught tailing the headmaster, Filch, and the two scariest Professors of the school. But they hadn’t got caught, after all, and it was unreasonable to assume they would get caught because they knew what they were doing after all. And besides, if you started to be afraid of getting caught you could just as well stop doing anything fun at all, clearly. Riko was sure, Amy would see that soon enough, though she was of course prepared to help her friend get there.

“Well, that depends, of course, on your definition of sanity and that hasn’t got anything to do with the situation, so let’s just look at this rationally and logically, alright?”

Riko shot her friend a warm, twinkly smile as she all but gaped and took the moment of confused silence as permission to explain. Across the table Edie was hiding her amusement behind a mug of tea and the pronounced munching of a piece of toast beside her was a testament to Vi’s relaxed entertainment. Riko felt like she was basking in the sun on a warm stone.

“Now, obviously there was something outrageous going on and you already mixed up in it. So, equally obviously, we had to know what was going on, and so it was just _obvious_ we had to follow. It’s nothing to do with sanity or not; we knew what we wanted and we knew what we had to do to get it, _and_ we knew what we’re doing. Easy as that, really.”

“Easy as that..” was Amy’s faint reply.

“Obviously,” came Vi’s dry confirmation.

“Surely you wouldn’t imply we _didn’t_ know what we were doing? I mean, really, that’s not a thing any of us can be accused of, ever..” Edie’s mild smile and voice were a true work of art.

Riko knew if she had said those very same words, Amy would look at her like she’d grown antlers or something. Her friend might have still believed it, because it was after all true, but Edie was so much better at calming people it was crazy. Probably because she was so good at being calm, or seeming calm even when she wasn’t, and of course she _was_ a very good Ravenclaw. But anyway..

“There you have it, then, Amy,” Riko gestured negligently with a piece of bacon on her fork. “Now perhaps we can get to the real matter, or rather matters. Like, what any of this is about and possibly even who did it, we can visit Hagrid and look by the chicken coop and find out if or what those voices had to do with it. Maybe we can ask the ghosts about it, and I want to ask Nick about places to find Lady Headway..”

“Voices?”

“..as in more than one?”

Edie and Amy shot each other a short curios look after their questions, making Vi switch her discreetly interested scrutiny from Riko to them. Then they all looked back to her, of course. Well, she’d already suspected it, so there was nothing to do but try and solve this puzzle.

“Well, yes, you really didn’t hear it?” At their shaking heads, Riko thought carefully. “Hm, that’s definitely odd. I mean, alright, it was just a whisper, but at least Edie should’ve heard _some_ thing.”

“Well, I’m sorry but I didn’t.. I mean, there was a right draft hissing along the passage, but other’n that..”

“Hmm, perhaps that’s it, then. You heard it but didn’t understand it.”

“Why would Harry and you understand a draft and what do you mean voices? Harry only heard one..” Amy threw in, a little impatiently as usual.

Riko grinned at her and gave a small shrug. “Well, I don’t know why Potter would understand anything, really, but I learned mahouki when I was five, so of course I would understand it.”

Seeing their looks, confused and questioning and impatient, she hurried to explain, giving them a sheepish smile.

“It’s a sort of talent you can learn that lets you understand what a sentient being wants to tell you. It’s, hmm, it’s like, you know how things mean something no matter who does the talking? Like blue is always blue and such. So, you don’t understand what they speak but the concept of blue that the person is imbuing in their words. Or something like that anyway, you know what I mean?”

“So if suddenly an alien were to show up and talk to you you’d understand them, is that what you’re saying?” Amy asked, obviously taken aback. “How does one learn that and why are we learning languages if there’s something like that around?”

“Well, I’d only understand your alien if it were talking concepts we have in common, if it wanted some gizmo to repair it’s UFO I’d be as much at sea as any one, technical terms and lingo don’t transfer at all well. And you need someone really really skilful at magic to teach you, because they have to sort of plant the seed for it in you magic core, which is rather self-explanatorily difficult and bad if mucked up. Ma did it for me and I’d do it for you if I could, but I’m quite sure you don’t want me mucking up your magical core.”

Riko grinned a little at her friends’ expressions, but quickly found back to an apologetic smile. She did hope to find a way for them to learn it. Uncle Kal might be able to do it, though convincing him would be hard. But first they’d need a decent grip on different languages, so she continued.

“The reason she waited till I was five is because it can fuck your ability to know and learn languages. And if you remember, many spells require certain languages or syllables, which goes to hell if you only speak the general meaning of, say, your idea of Wingardium Leviosa or whatever. Ma said her rule of thumb was to know at least three languages well enough to get the differences, first.”

Her friends were looking it her with mild incredulity now and Riko almost sighed. But then, she couldn’t just assume they knew stuff she’d never explained or told them, now could she? No, of course not.

“I learned Metarikana from her and when we visited there and Da knew it, too, a bit, and English came from Da and her, and we did live in Japan. It’s because you need a good hang of actual word-meanings and how they can be used, first, because if you try to learn that later it gets really hairy. Like, you’d never be able to get a pun! Never mind colloquial expressions and implications and such.” Riko shuddered dramatically at the idea, only exaggerating a little. The idea really was disturbing, after all.

Edie was eyeing her thoughtfully, then blinked. “How did you learn French then, and German this year? If you understand anyway, how do you get the pronunciation right and all that?” she asked.

“Hah, well, it’s a bit of a hindrance, yeah, you can focus on hearing words though, on what is audible instead of, hm, said? Works best if you know the words, of course, so there’s that,” Riko shrugged and, seeing by their mild looks they were satisfied for now, waved the matter away. No need to mention the Sorrentinos, then. “Anyway, I don’t know, but it could be some Potter family talent to understand stuff, or it could be something from his mother that formed spontaneously, or whatever. Much more interesting is what sort of being or beings made those whispers and if they have anything to do with that prank. I mean, I’m pretty sure they were different,” Riko paused, trying to describe the vague feeling she’d had.

“Alright, they were similar and trying to nail them to a direction in the corridors what with all the echoes is a fools errand. And they were both very ..intense, there was so much power and will trailing along, didn’t you feel something? It made me shiver and all. Anyway, either it’s two of them, whatever they are, or it’s one that’s shizophrenic. Cause they had, entirely different flavours, although both were scary odd, and wow, I really wouldn’t want to meet the one that’s always going on about tearing and killing..”

“Harry said it was moving upwards, through the floor,” Amy added, looking a little sceptical. “And, well, I had a bit of a shiver, but it was real drafty and chilly, y’know..”

Riko rolled her eyes but tried to remain rational, using every little bit of info. Potter had after all been further up the corridor. Perhaps he’d been closer and not just an idiot, for once.

“Hm, well, if it did that, then it’d be incorporeal. I don’t think one of the ghosts would do that, do you? Of course, with it being Samhain, it might involve thinner borders and all that, or perhaps a phantom, but..”

“A phantom at Hogwarts? Now that sounds like a disaster in the making. Surely the ghosts would notice and tell someone? You can’t have a castle inhabited and infested with a phantom at the same time..” Edie looked very worried now and Riko could understand only too well. Amy looked a little confused, so Vi quickly explained.

“They’re like really broken ghosts and always completely insane. They are attracted to any area that has some calamity, and they can actually draw energy from spilt blood. Oh, and when they attack someone by contact they age their target and gain part of the energy the target lost. They’re a real menace but some people like to keep them contained for whatever absurd notions..”

Edie looked a little disturbed at Vi’s words and Riko thought that perhaps harmless and peaceful people didn’t know quite as much on phantoms, especially the part about keeping them. Well, Riko could imagine a few ruthless uses for such a creature, and there were surely insane people with money who could come up with a few more. Better to distract a little, now.

“Sometimes you can also have them sort of by accident. They’re always former mortals with some access to magic, and if they die badly they get sort of twisted. Like, I was in an old castle, I think it was somewhere in Russia, cause my parents wanted to explore something there. And then we found, purely by accident, in a room that had been secured ages ago from the inside and then got lost, a phantom, tried to masquerade as a spectre first, to make us let it out. See, it was in a circle, because whoever it had been had drawn the circle, right, sat down, tried to do something or other, and died in the process. And because of the circle it could never get out and it had gone entirely off the deep end. Real creepy.”

“Great,” was Amy’s dry reply. “So we might suddenly have a phantom here. Perhaps it was trapped like you said and got out by accident. Or it might be some insane ghost. And we have someone writing on walls with chicken blood, and we don’t know what chamber or heir they are talking about, OR if the one has to do with the other.”

“And someone petrified Mrs Norris, though I’m inclined to see that as a good thing, which I’m guessing is why you didn’t mention it?” Vi grinned drily at their earnest, focussed Gryffindor and Amy smiled back and only gave a very airily innocent shrug indeed. In the very next moment, however, she was already deep in thought again, heaving a frustrated sigh.

“I’m sure, absolutely sure, that I read about a secret chamber or even chambers somewhere. There was something in Hogwarts, a History, but I had to leave it at home because of all the Lockhart books, and I think there was another book that had Hogwarts and a chamber mentioned, but I just can’t remember which one, it was something with a battle, I think..?”

“Hmm, y’know, that sounds familiar, you must’ve loaned it to me. But I can’t recall anything right now, either..” Riko puzzled, trying and failing to remember any specific book of last year, beyond the obvious. Edie nodded, obviously in the same situation.

“As nice as it is to see you all pondering so quietly, how about we delay that to when we don’t have the chance to just go to the library or visit Hagrid and all that, hm?” Vi suggested drily, giving them all look of tolerant teasing.

They had to agree she was right, of course, but unfortunately, despite this, they didn’t find out anything helpful all day. They went to the library, but all versions of Hogwarts, a History were already taken out. Riko had a moment of excitement when she remembered her own copy, but then she also remembered that currently Theo had it for some essay for Binns. As she had absolutely no clue where in the bloody thick tome there had been anything on a chamber, and because Vi had refused to give her one of the booknotemarks and she herself had forgotten to buy some, it would have taken ages to find it, and she couldn’t just take it from him. Also, just about any other book on the history or even architecture of Hogwarts was taken out and most had ridiculously long waiting lists. It was depressing.

They were extremely careful when they went to Hagrid’s by way of the hidden hencoop, but it turned out to be unnecessary. There were neither any chicken nor anything else, the silence odd and disturbing. At Hagrids, they didn’t manage to learn anything, either, as their friend was distracted and worried even after he’d refused to tell them anything. At least the treacle toffee was delicious, even if it had a tendency to cement your jaw together. That was what the tea was for, after all. As they made their way back to dinner, Hagrid waving and calling to take a care behind them, their mood was uncommonly low.

It was strange to come away from a visit to Hagrid in such low spirits and the writing that was still on the wall did nothing to improve it. Not even the hearty meal of grilled chicken and potatoes helped, as it not only reminded them of the completely empty hencoop but also of the dead-end it had turned out to be. This grew into true, full-flagged annoyance, at least for Riko. For one, there was the matter of Draco. Having decided firmly to not have any more outbursts, she found herself unwilling to confront him about the mudblood thing, knowing it was very likely to escalate again. And then the damn git had the guts to sit with Farrah and Cynthia’s in the common room on Monday evening. Riko knew Theo caught her look of disgust, which annoyed her even further, as did his careful, almost pointed, not making any mention of it.

The whole school was contributing to Riko’s foul mood because they kept going on and _on_ about the prank, not to mention the fact that the writing stubbornly stayed on the wall, no matter what Filch had the house elves do to clean it. And to add insult to injury it seemed by now every Slytherin except her knew what the writing was about, while the Untouchables were stuck on all fronts of the mystery. Amy had asked Nick and he had been just as not-helpful as Hagrid. Add to that Monday being the day-long lesson on foul-weather Flying in what felt like a washing machine, and that there was still no law against the cruelty of double McGonagall and double Binns on Tuesday, and you got a grumpy, sullen Riko lying face first on her table in History of Magic, trying to ignore absolutely everything.

At least that was working. Riko wasn’t sure if she’d ever got as close to a true state of meditation as now, the musty air and droning background noise at least as effective as the inside of any temple. Taking an even, relaxed breath she smiled faintly and decided absently to properly commit this moment to memory, perhaps it could help if she really had to meditate. Then, Riko had an epiphany. And, utterly shocking, it even had something to do with History of Magic, yes, it was even triggered by the words of Binns, that she had actually heard despite not listening.

“..disparate battle, easily confused with desperate, but it’s not only Charms that wants to get the letters right..”

_Right_ , a battle, and it had been disparate _and_ desperate, and in a flash Riko remembered what the title of the book was, the book Amy had got from Edie for Christmas! She sat up with such a sudden start that Edie jerked back in shock. When she leaned over with a big grin of excitement Edie looked at her questioningly.

“The Two Kneazles,” whispered Riko as quietly as she could in Edie’s ear, even in her excitement not ready to use signs in a room where people might overlook it.

The few people who had actually noticed her sudden movement now also got to see Edie perk up like a hound who’d heard something to hunt. In a moment, however, Riko and Edie were both back to their usual poses, respectively proper-studious and casually-slouched, careful to remain calm and only occasionally, covertly sign or write notes to each other. Before dinner, Will was sent off to Amy’s parents.

It seemed things were starting to look up, at last. By Wednesday morning the stupid writing was gone at last from the Entrance Hall and people started to talk about the upcoming Quidditch Match more than the stupid prank. Filch was still more bitter and hateful than before, lunging at unsuspecting students from odd places and trying to give them detention for things like “breathing loudly“ or “looking happy“, but most students adapted to it quick enough.

Despite the usual great number of things to do, Riko spent most of Wednesday and Thursday being impatient. When Edie and her arrived, out of breath after a mad dash of impatience after the end of Herbology, they heard Amy and Vi already talking in their room.

“Is it here yet?!” they both demanded breathlessly.

The answer came in the form of two broad grins and one held-up book, dark green with the title in gold, _The Two Kneazles_.

“Oh, and Amy broke History of Magic today,” added Vi with a wide grin that somehow bypassed her mouth and only crinkled around her eyes.

Amy blushed very prettily and actually spluttered adorably at their immediate questions. “Well, he _is_ a teacher, after all, so I asked him, nothing to it..” 

“You asked _Binns_?! Amy, only you, I swear!”

“What did you ask? What’d he say?”

“Well, let me tell then, will you?” their friend huffed impatiently at Riko’s and Edie’s exclamations. Everyone, even Vi, held their hands up in supplication.

“Alright, I asked about the Chamber of Secrets, of course, and he said it’s just a legend, and I said don’t legends have a grain of truth, and he said that reportedly Salazar Slytherin, yeah, the founder, started to argue with the others because he only wanted to accept students from all-magic families because he didn’t trust people with muggle family because at the time muggles persecuted magic and after a big argument with Godric Gryffindor he left,”

Amy took a deep breath after all of that had just exploded out of her. It didn’t exactly explain all that much yet, but when Riko opened her mouth to ask, and she wasn’t alone in that, Amy talked right over them and, well, yes, that wasn’t exactly uncommon, either, that she’d monologue you against and through the wall once she got started, full-on swot-mode, about as hard to stop on her way to her point as a steam engine on the way through a tunnel.

“And then he said that legends rumoured that he’d built a secret chamber that only he knew about and could get into, oh, and his heirs, of course, and inside it had some horror that his heir would unleash upon the school to purge all who are unworthy to learn magic. Oh, and of course Voldemort was supposedly the heir or descendant of Slytherin, right, I read all about that, but I’m pretty sure that after that mess of last year the headmaster would make sure he couldn’t get in..”

Amy had to take a deep breath after that barrage and they looked uncomfortably at each other in the short silence.

“Huh,” said Riko at last, flopping down on the couch, “so someone is either an utter twat or some other ominous heir of Slytherin, who also has enemies or thinks he has enemies.”

“It seems enemies are supposed to be people with muggle-blood,” added Edie worriedly.

“And whoever it is, if any of it is true, they have some discorporeal horror that they’re going to sick on them,” finished Vi evenly.

There was again an uncomfortable silence.

“But that can’t be right,” argued Amy after a few moments. “I mean, Graveworthy did a lot of research and there’s nothing like that in The Two Kneazles. I mean, yes, there’s his secret chamber, but it says the other founders also had chambers of their own and they were for the guardians and they fought against the Dementors to protect the students.”

Riko nodded, oddly relieved. “Hm, yes, that does sound more reasonable. I mean, it’s all well and good to hope your descendants inherit your talents or whatever, but Slytherin was supposed to be real smart, and hoping they somehow know how to do things you know and purge stuff when you could do it yourself sounds sort of, well, not smart at all.”

“Well, that might be why Binns didn’t like the legend very much,” added Vi drily. “Though I wonder why he didn’t tell the stuff that’s in the Two Kneazles..”

“Oh, I can tell you that: Binns hasn’t changed or updated his syllabus since he became a ghost, and I think that was 18-something..” Edie said with a grin. “It’s even in Hogwarts, a History.”

“Great, _that’s_ something you can remember..” Riko grinned at her and they poked each other for a few moments, until Amy stood and sat herself between them with the air of settling down two toddlers. Riko almost stuck her tongue out at her.

“Stop distracting, we still have a lot to find out. I have a few clues I found looking with Harry and Ron the last few days. We might look for hints on discorporeal monsters that scare spiders, because we saw a lot of them who looked like they were fleeing, yesterday, before we talked to Myrtle.”

Riko had been about to make a snide comment about any clues that involved those two but the last part derailed her. “..before you talked to Myrtle? Why would you.. why would anyone do that?”

Amy rolled her eyes with some exasperation. “Because we had some clues, obviously. Remember how Filch complained about the flooded loo that evening? Well, we took a look inside and there wasn’t any flooding from the stalls. It was from along the wall and it came from upstairs, so of course..”

“Alright, I get it, you went to the toilet above that, which is Myrtle’s. Isn’t the one there a boys toilet? Or is it even because they were in Myrtle’s?”

Riko grinned teasingly and Amy lightly slapped her arm but smiled. “Even, of course. So we asked her if she’d seen anything strange but she only got upset and was unhelpful and then we left and ran straight into Percy and he got upset and then Ron got upset and we lost five points because they argued about Ginny being upset..”

Amy rolled her eyes again and Riko laughed. “Now who’s distracting, huh? Or was there anything else?”

“Well, Harry and Ron think Malfoy might be the heir of Slytherin and out to get all the muggleborns, they threw me a note“ Amy added quietly with a small shrug. She didn’t look at Riko as she said it, too.

“Oh really now, that’s just ridiculous,” Riko sighed with a small, necessary, and entirely absurdity-based smile. “For that he’d have to be properly sneaky first, and to find out how to get that supposed monster he’d need to do some exploring. Which he isn’t, as you all know, and which he doesn’t, as I can testify. Never mind getting a monster to obey him and besides, the Malfoys aren’t _that_ old, and Draco doesn’t really hate muggleborns or half-bloods as such, we have them in our house, too, and he gets along well enough with them.”

At Amy’s disbelieving look Riko sighed again and threw up her hands in honest, if badly aimed, frustration. “What? He’s an idiot, not my fault! And no, I won’t tell you anyone’s parentage, you’ll just have to believe it.”

Amy looked guilty for a moment before putting a calming hand on Riko’s arm. “Alright, I know you’re not responsible for any Malfoys, already,” she winked, “and you don’t have to. I can see why you wouldn’t want to.”

Riko wondered if she really did but still relaxed from a tension she only now noticed and shot her friend a grateful look. “Yeah, err, ta, Amy. Sorry. I’m just still kinda pissed at the git.”

There was yet another uncomfortable pause as Riko had, as usual keeping house matters private, so far made no mention about being pissed at anything or anyone but Amy came to her rescue again.

“Oh, that’s alright. But I just remembered something I wanted to ask, I had the idea in History of Magic. What? If you can have meditational epiphanies, so can I! Anyway, do you think the Polyjuice could turn us into animals, too? I mean, not the normal one, of course, but if you added more fluxweed and a second dose of boomslang skin, only powdered?”

Riko opened her mouth, closed it again, thought a moment and nodded. “Huh, that’s a good idea but it’s awfully risky, isn’t it? Wow, Binns really is like some drug that throws you deep into your brain or something. Hm, perhaps we should first test it on some animal, but yeah, I’m all for it. Oh, and while we’re at Polyjuice, I had an idea too, to make it last longer, I got some notes on it, too..”

It took a while but when Riko returned to the lair this evening it was agreed they’d test three small doses of Polyjuice over the weekend, activated with eyelashes, bits of nail, and blood, to see which lasted how long. They’d also start a small batch of experimental Polyjuice as soon as soon as tomorrow evening. They also had plans for looking into the sources Gravesworthy had researched and for looking up discorporeal creatures, perhaps they could ask Hagrid or Nick, too, and, well, there was still lots to do besides that but Riko felt in the best mood since before that stupid Hallowe’en prank. Not even the whole school gearing up to going crazy over the Slytherin-Gryffindor Quidditch match could get to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Graveworthy and his book, The Two Kneazles, were also birthed in copperbadge´s brilliant brain, though it was kindly left up to the imagination of the reader what it was about (beyond the obvious title, referring to two Kneazles taken in by the founder of the Serpent house), and so I imagined a bit.. *shrug* =)


	12. Crossing Beams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quidditch game in bad weather can have advantages after all, but apparently it is impossible to have nice things without other things going awry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the few who appear to read this: many apologies for the terrible lag in update. Hopefully rl will be nicer now, which should result in more timely updates.. Possibly I can even get through editing book three before I run out of chapter with this here! *extreme optimism - activate!*

Saturday turned out to be a wholesale disaster, as per consensus of pretty much the whole school, but Riko had to disagree.

Yes, the weather for the Quidditch match between her and Amy’s house was terrible, like flying in a washing machine.

Yes, it was hardly any fun, not just because of the weather but also because it was incredibly short (actually that was a bonus, Riko thought).

Yes, it was utterly depressing how even fast brooms changed nothing in the thuggish way the Slytherin team played and lost.

Yes, it was also depressing because Potter not only managed to catch the Snitch in record time, he also managed it while being again targeted by something that just had to be illegal. This time it was a Bludger that refused to leave him alone, targeting him constantly instead of attacking any random player closest to it, as it should. At least this time it went without notice, no doubt thanks to the weather, clearly one more reason the bad weather was for once a good thing.

And yes, of course Potter managed to heroically injure himself by breaking his arm catching the damn Snitch, making Amy pale and upsettingly quiet with worry while he lay about unconsciously on the Pitch after as bad a landing as Riko had yet seen.

It was, however, entirely hilarious when Lockhart’s charm simply removed all the bones in his arm instead of simply healing them. And, this also had the advantage of putting Madam Pomfrey in such a mood (because why hadn’t they just come to her in the first place, hm?), that she strictly forbade any and all visitors.

Consequently, Amy could spend the rest of the day with them, distracting herself from her worry about Potter’s boneless arm by paging through books like _Disastrous Discorporeals_ and _Arachnids and their Archnemeses_. Unfortunately most of the books Graveworthy cited as sources were either still taken out, or not listed in the card register, or in the Restricted Section, which was patently ridiculous because they were just history books and annals and such, for crying out loud!

It meant they’d have to wait and work at night on that part of the mystery, which was admittedly bothersome, but Riko thought that during the Christmas holidays they’d have a good time of it. When she mentioned this, Edie blushed and shyly invited them all to stay over the holidays at the Latch. It was a surprise, but a nice one, even if it derailed that plan.

But Edie said that her parents were fans of Graveworthy and might have additional info on him or his works, which was really just icing on the cake as far as Riko was concerned. Vi looked a little worried, but also determined. Riko knew the Drakes had been mighty displeased when her friend had stayed at the school last year and decided to find a way to keep them otherwise occupied, this year.

When she made for the lair this evening, again quite late, Riko was in a good mood and, intent on keeping this state of affairs, she again entered obscured. And again there were more people than usual sitting around, though far less than after Hallowe’en. Most were still talking Quidditch, of all things, and as she eyed around Riko saw the house team sitting in a bulky huddle to the side.

Draco, however, was not with them, which was odd because he was usually proud to sit with the older team members, even if he usually also looked rather bored and tense. And it was simply good form to notice such things, obviously.

But anyway, Theo sat where he usually sat, hidden behind an enormous a book just as usual, so Riko stealthed over again and repeated the trick of startling him with a friendly “Hey Theo!”

He’d relaxed a little since Hallowe’en but not as much as she would’ve liked and she felt it was both her prerogative and her duty to get him to lighten up again. And also to make sure he could control such startled twitches better, although she was ready to admit he had improved.

“Nice, better than last time, anyway,” she grinned warmly at him and he sighed and gave her a weak smile. Progress! 

“Hey, sorry, I didn’t notice you sitting there,” he answered, all dry-warm-and-charm, and Riko, warm with pride at the calm display, started poking him about his progress even though it wasn’t a house day.

Then, after a reasonably polite while, she asked if he knew where Draco was, because if she was going to use him for info she was too lazy to extract from her house she was going to give him something, first. He looked thoughtful for a moment but then obviously decided to be helpful despite some doubts. 

“Still at practise I imagine,” he smirked, “Flint was so mad that he didn’t notice the Snitch right by his ear over his taunting of Potter that he said he better learn to pay attention to the real gold and not to come in before he catches the Snitch at least a dozen times.”

“But that was before noon,” wondered Riko, who had paid little attention to Flint yelling at Draco after the game. “He wouldn’t need that long to catch the Snitch a dozen times, I’m pretty sure..”

“Ah, yes, you’d be right, I guess,” Theo answered with a very short, positively bone-dry smile. “But there was some amount of backtalk involved and, well, things degenerated. I only know Flint charmed a practise-Snitch, though not exactly how, and I think he let the Bludgers out, too, though I’m not really sure on that part.” 

Riko blinked, leaning back and keeping her face neutral. Well, perhaps a little smile and some exasperation leaked out, but that was alright. She sighed, fighting against the smile growing any further and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I see,” she said drily, “somehow I’m not surprised at all..”

She was absently noting Theo’s reaction or rather the pronounced lack of reaction he worked so very hard on. Even so his curiosity was visible. She gave him a sharp grin and rose swiftly, throwing him a quick mock-salute.

“Off I go then, ta and try to get some sleep, eh? You’re doing good, no need to burn yourself out,” with a wink and a grin she sauntered straight off towards her room and the broom she insisted on carrying back down here after each practice just so it wouldn’t be locked in the school broomshed.

Tony was still in the common room, holding court for her gaggle, doing homework, and, incidentally, waiting for Draco, all at the same time. The rest of her roommates was in, falling quiet and watching curiously as she took out Nue and after a moment of thought a small satchel from her trunk and made directly for one of the windows. Riko didn’t worry about them tattling.

As if to compensate for Tony and her being so excitable and prone to.. expansive projects maybe, the others were content to work their own designs on the quiet. When they had any, that was, she didn't usually pay more than the safe minimum of attention on it. Either way it was a good deal, Riko thought, they had a good cover from the louder results of Tony’s or Riko’s exploits and in return kept to being easy-going neutral or buried themselves in whatever obscure interests they had.

Mostly, ignoring the venomous spider Riko had found in her shoe some time into this mess, but she’d just used that for her temper-balming efforts in Theo’s cause, and it was only the one time, what with Gray having to deal with a hysterical Harper afterwards, - anyway, mostly it tended to work pretty well, even if the looks they were throwing her now were an even mix between doubtfully worried and interested.

They kept quiet though, so that was alright. First, Riko fixed the place as a direction in her mind by anchoring it on her feeling of south and sun. It was easy enough that she didn’t need to use a seal, she slept here often enough, after all.

Then, having learned from their little meet and greet with a blizzard last winter with Vi, Riko first cast the strongest warming charm she knew and then the little repellent charm Amy and Vi had looked up after the last full moon, twice.

“Better close the window after me,” was Riko’s cheerful comment as she drew the rune to open it and mounted very carefully, because yes, the Lightning ’67 was a little touchy, she could admit that, alright, and it wasn’t a bad thing.

Not it’s usual habitat down here, after all. Then she aimed her broom upwards and away from the cliff, in case of overhangs, and slipped out into the dark, cold water, keeping her course straight as she could even as she angled it further up. She could immediately feel the water press against her, all the more strange as the movement and charms made it seem like weirdly heavy eddies of wind.

Nue wasn’t happy at all, made as she was for flying not underwater propulsion, even it was similar enough to hold at least for a little. The urge to take a breath just to calm herself was right disturbing, if understandable, from the way Nue wobbled lightly under her, as if to convey her distaste for this heavy, unasked-for environment.

The Slytherin dorms were only about fifteen to twenty yards down, but in the dark and of course with their course just a bit sloped it seemed to take a damn long time to go without breathing, all the while hoping she was still going the right way. The slight bucking of her broom, as if it was nervous, didn’t help. And then the weather on the surface made it actually less pleasant to be up there than in the tense underwater calm. Well, except for the ability to breathe, but still.

In the lake it had been sort of eerie, yes, but also very nearly quiet in a relaxing sort of way. Up here you had chaotic boughs of wind crashing into each other as if at war, pelting the heavy sheets of rain this way and that, into and against each other like a water fight gone out of control. Riko grit her jaw and held very tightly onto Nue, working with her broom as well as she could to gain altitude and try get a decent view to orient herself.

As soon as Nue had adapted and Riko didn’t have to compare her flying to riding a half-drunk, massive carp (no, not a story she was going to tell) she leaned back a little and called up her Demon Eyes with a wave of her hand. YEs, lazy, but she still had to look out for sudden winds. She fixed it with a tap at her temple, so she wouldn’t have to pay any more attention to it, at long last took a proper look around, and was mostly disappointed at the utter lack of lightning. 

Not on account of the Demon Eyes versus her natural night vision, for Flying you usually wanted the first, no, it was just, if it had to storm like that, couldn’t you at least throw in some nice lightning effects? But no, of course not. This bloody year, seriously.

Shaking her head, Riko concentrated on business, she didn’t want to spend all night in this fish soup of a weather after all. Just to be on the safe side she made a wide arc around the cliff, the winds were really strong and unpredictable here, and she didn’t fancy smashing her head in on an overhang or outcrop. Soon, she could see the outlines of the castle and the occasional lighted window and somewhere around there had to be the Quidditch Pitch, ah, right over there.

With the stands empty and lacking their usual cover of house-coloured fabric, they looked oddly skeletal and forlorn. Like a graveyard of elephants or thrawnsnares. Now where was.. ah, there. What the.. what was Draco doing, just flying in cycles? Ah, and there was the little fluttering ball of mischief. The snitch was lazily twirling around the lower part of the middle northern goal post. Riko thought a few more moments while Nue drew lazy serpentines in the air, keeping her position relatively steady so she could keep watching. Ye gods, but she really loved that broom.

Alright then, first things first, Riko thought, and bent forward to touch the nose of her broom lightly with fore- and middle finger, gently anchoring and then drawing up a thread of power. She patted the broom lightly with her other hand when it shifted as if uneasy and let the thread diverge into a light veil of Obscurantis, settling it just as delicately around the two of them as she’d done in the Weasley’s illegal car.

Nue calmed down and went back to flying serpentines, drawing closer to the pitch as Riko leaned in a little, watching and trying to get a feel for the situation. From his posture Draco was hanging onto the broom with sheer force of will, hardly surprising if he’d been here since noon. If she startled him he’d likely just fall, so perhaps she’d better start slowly, getting him to be a little more aware and all that.

It only took a few little nudges and being pointed in the direction of her moving target and soon Riko was tailing Draco close enough to cast a few discreet charms on him, like a warming charm and the repellent and then, because she was still so proud she’d learned it successfully, the Antheraliptis, always with a little time in between.

After the second lap of Draco actually sitting up instead of hanging there half-dead like Riko in History of Magic, she thought it was a good time to gather some more info on this tragedy. By now the practice-Snitch was hiding by the foot of one of the southern stands, so Riko let Nue drift in its general direction while thinking. She didn’t want to risk spooking it so she couldn’t get too close, which meant she couldn’t get any quick and clear intel on what charms had been put on it. The usual live-game Snitch was worked so that it couldn’t be charmed but this was a practice one and she had forgot why exactly Draco thought they were no good. Figured he’d get stuck with one, then.

Well, if she couldn’t interact directly with it she’d just charm around it, so there, and didn’t she have the just the greatest example in her very memory. With a steadying hand on Nue and the other raised and gesturing ever so carefully, Riko drew up a little net, made of so little power it was like it wasn’t there at all, laying out only the faintest lines, waiting to be traced. Then, in a flash of glee, she did just that, pushing will and the easiest little cantrip of them all, witchlight, into the template.

A glow of white-blue flickered up around the Snitch and for a moment it paused, as if surprised. Then it raced away, weaving fluidly through the empty skeleton stands. The glow went with it, not overly strong but easily visible in the dark. Riko grinned and Nue wriggled a little under her as if both happy and itching to race.

“Psst, sorry, not right now. Some other day, when we won’t have to worry about the squid coming up to play with us, huh?” Riko murmured, stroking the handle and smiling happily as she watched the spectacle.

Because Draco had seen the illuminated Snitch and if he was beyond caring why it suddenly glowed, he wasn’t beyond chasing it. Heck, he even laughed a few times, barely evading crashing directly into the stands. At least he didn’t go after it when it fluttered between the haphazard legs that supported them, he’d ’ve been a smear on wet wood in seconds.

Riko watched closely as he slowly caught up, obviously having a good instinct where it would try to break off to, and the Snitch seemed to become slower, too, either tired or perhaps because it was Flint’s and was just as lazy as it’s owner. Nue was weaving closer, following the lightest hint of Riko’s hand or legs, clearly aware they were to stay at a distance and no longer pushing.

Thus, Riko had a very good view and well enough warning to drop into quicktime and see, concentrating on all things magic, what happened when Draco closed his hand around the Snitch. It disappeared, of course, oddly enough Riko had already suspected that. After all, what else could get Draco to ever abandon catching the damn snitch.

It hadn’t disappeared immediately, though, had it? Riko went through what she had just seen in slow-motion, while her eyes followed the figure that was again huddling against it’s broom. Rubbing his hands. The white of his fingertips clearly visible against the darkness. Still traces of orange swirling form them like tiny little sparks.

Huh. Riko leaned back, searching quickly for the soft glow of enchanted flying metal, not even surprised it had shaken off the net she’d thrown around it. It had sort-of-apparated after all, the little sucker, she’d bet her wand he hadn’t done that himself. And it was also tracing tiny orange sparks. She almost started laughing loudly, then. Ye gods, Draco must really be in a bad place, to not have noticed it was triggered by his skin, not his hand. Well, on the other hand, heh, she didn’t know their usual trainings and he couldn’t see the magic, so perhaps he could be excused.

Either way, Riko was relieved to feel her resentment ebb away to be replaced by a sort of drily amused sympathy. Being stupid was of course not a good thing, but neither was this here. She rather doubted Flint had thought of what could happen if the sole heir of house Malfoy were to fall off his broom now.

 Well, at least the sole heir of house Malfoy seemed currently not in danger of falling off his broom if he spotted something unexpected, so Riko let go of her Obscurantis. For good measure she called up a whisp of witchlight halfway between them and let it drift towards her until it was slowly circling her. Draco followed it after some, kindly put, crossed-arm deliberation.

“What are you doing here?” was his clipped, cold question, though it lost some of it’s dignity with the look of a desperate, half-drowned rodent.

“Ahoy, sailor,” grinned Riko easily, already amused and not just a little happy to let go of several weeks of inner grumbling. “Or is it different when one is underwater? Anyway, relax, Draco, I just wanted to have a good conversation with you, so when you didn’t show up I thought I’d take a look what’s keeping you.”

He gaped at her for a moment and Riko had some difficulty keeping her face innocently good-natured instead of keeling over of laughter. His jaw worked silently for a few moments, then he asked with less temper but a good amount of caution. “Your eyes glow red.”

Well, he said it without any inflection but it was of course a question. Riko rolled her eyes and sighed but answered with a shrug. “Yes, my eyes glow red, it’s a spell that lets me see in the dark and stuff. Now, back to what’s keeping you. I already watched your last catch and I’ll help you out, obviously in my own best interest, eh?”

Suspicion and exhaustion mingled on his face and Riko felt an odd mix of stung and sorry, though if she was honest the biggest part was impatience. After another few, long moments, he again said, even though it was _again_ a damn question, “How.” and although Riko had to give him full marks for vagueness, she was not currently in the mood. Well, at least it was something to work with.

“In case you haven’t noticed,” she gave him a cheerful smile and he chose that moment to shiver, which was simply rude but she was magnanimous enough to ignore it and continue, “the trouble is triggered by your skin so I suggest you cover your fingers properly. I’ll even light it up again, because I’m such a damn nice person.”

Draco looked more thoughtful and cautious now as he digested this information, stirrings of curiosity starting to show where before only feral defensiveness had been visible. Riko was rather glad to see the similarities to a trapped animal fade because she didn’t care to have her hand bitten off for trying to help (and, admittedly, trying to catch the opportune moment, but, well, synergy). He didn’t, however, do anything. Riko did manage to not roll her eyes again but she couldn’t quite suppress a sigh. He might be here since before noon, but if he wanted to get back inside he had to know he had to act, first.

“Well, do you, perchance, have something that’d fit the bill? Y’know, actual gloves or something? I notice your tragic lack of scarf but perhaps a handkerchief?”

After a few tired blinks, Draco started to dig in his pocket, drawing out a big, opulently fine and rather damp handkerchief. Well then. He was clearly too exhausted to even try and do anything as fiddly as working it around his hand, so Riko reached over and took it. After a few minutes of wrapping it this way and that around his right hand and casting a few Sticking charms, Riko was prepared to call it workable. Draco didn’t argue her assessment, instead watching with the focus of the truly tired everything she was doing. It had the side effect of making her seriously uncomfortable, but Riko had her good old paranoia to fall back to. She simply kept her wand out while she relocated the soft glow of magic that was the practise-Snitch and repeated the net of witchlight.

“See, there you go,” she gestured grandly, moving out of the way just in time, as he ducked over his broom and bolted after it with a look of steel and his jaw set just so.

It didn’t take long until he had the Snitch in his handkerchief-clad grip, though there were a few moments where Riko really worried about him crashing into something in a lethal sort of way. Hence, as he made his way back, a grim smile on his pale face, it was the first thing she asked about.

“So, tell me, how can you fly after the damn thing like that without crashing into anything in this dark and rainy night?”

Draco only raised an eyebrow at her jaunty tone before lightly tilting his head and demonstrating anew his talent and ability to annoy.

“I somehow doubt this is what you wanted to have a conversation about, so why don’t we get to that first,” he said with a comically clammy shrug. “Incidentally, there’s something I wanted to talk about with you, too, but ladies first and all that. The heir of Malfoy has to have some manners after all..”

He gave a dry smile at the last words and considering how dripping wet just about everything else about him was and how their last exchange had gone, Riko thought it was probably the best he could do to be accommodating. It helped settle her own temper further quite admirably, enabling her to do a tremendous thing.

“Alright,” she took a deep breath, “I wanted to apologize for exploding at you like that. I had no business using you as lightning rod even if I was in the right. Also, I owe you an apology about that idiotic comment about your grandfather. It was out of line and I’m deeply ashamed I’d ever throw that at anyone, ’specially you, even more so considering I really pity your grandmother for losing whatever she had to let her do that in the first place and, well, I can only offer you my sincere apologies..”

She’d drawn her shoulders back and made sure to deliver the words clearly and not stare at him as she did it. After a few moments of silence, however, Riko looked up to gauge his reaction. Draco was looking thoughtful but also a little shocked. Then, drawing his own shoulders back with a slight wince, he nodded.

“Thank you, I accept your apologies. The.. matter I wanted to talk to you about was that I, well, I wanted to apologize, too. I talked to Cynthia, after that Hallowe’en prank and told her I didn’t mean her or any other Slytherin and, well, considering how hard it usually is to get you in a real temper, I should’ve used my brain, right? I’d actually forgot all about what you told us last year and it never sounded like you let it matter much to you, but of course that’s just – I mean – I offer my apologies.”

He’d looked away when he started apologizing, too, and Riko noted he seemed really sorry. There was of course still the matter of their different opinions, but Riko hadn’t been joking when she told Edie that Slytherins were perfectly able to politely disagree and still get along. After a few moments, she realized he was waiting for an answer.

“I, ah, thank you, Draco, I accept your apology,” Riko offered her hand to shake on it and after a moment he took it.

Then, noticing Draco’s light smile, which probably mirrored her own, but also his trembling hands and increasing shivers, which had to mean her charms were fading, Riko retreated to her usual practicality.

“You should get inside. And with how long you’ve been on your broom you should probably take one of those before you dismount,” she drew a small class-one energy potion from the pouch on her belt. “You gonna be alright getting back to the lair?”

Riko rather doubted Draco would be up to any sort of sneaking, even with the benefit of the energy potion. He’d gotten markedly better over the course of last year, but last she’d seen he still had ways to go, and she had actually kept an eye on this. But he only gave her another incongruously dry smile and a small shrug.

“Anybody wants to catch me, I’ll just point them at Flint. I was following his training regime after all,” he all but smirked.

Riko couldn’t quite stop a small snort at that. “Nice one. Now enough talk, I really think you should be getting out of this weather, but I realize of course there’s no accounting for taste.”

Draco looked startled for all of one second, then he obviously remembered her dig about not accepting Flint as authority and tolerantly rolled his eyes at her.

“Yes, well, there’s that,” he nodded gravely while grinning ruefully and then gave small shrug. “And then there’s getting what you want no matter what. Incidentally about your question: it’s not that I can see in the dark beyond the normal. But when I can actually see the Snitch and really focus on it, it’s sort of like everything slows and I can just take my time and take everything in and then grab it. I’ll see if I can do it at the next game...”

He shrugged again at the last words as Riko fixed him with a thoughtful look. Huh, imagine that, Draco all but crashing into his own personal sort of quicktime. Definitely interesting and something to keep track of. But he was still talking.

“Anyway, I think you should get rid of your glowy eyes before heading back in. How you wanna do this, anyway?”

Riko blinked before catching on. Right, he couldn’t know, after all.

“Oh, I’ll just return to my window and knock for them to let me in. I can test if the rune works from the other side, too. Makes for a better entrance if you’re alone, I’d say...” she grinned at his half-incredulous look, though she did follow his request and loosened the Demon Eyes, hiding the gesture in a mock salute. She also leaned back on Nue, swinging her legs so they very nonchalantly rested on the front on the broomstick as if it was a narrow but comfy couch.”What? Got to be a reason those windows are so big, eh?”

Her natural nightvision let her see him lightly shaking his head with a snort. “Merlin, I forgot your eyes are weird even without a spell, but alright. You’re pretty much a cat anyway. Now, how d’you want it with us reintegrating each other? And what’s up with that kid that’s been sitting with you, you started tutoring?”

“Huh,” Riko absently dangled her legs down again, accepting Draco’s usual lack of tact in face of his polite question of how she wanted their little not-quite-feud to end. After all he was bound to know at least the basics about Theo already, with Tony keeping herself, and surely him too, informed.

“Well, I already got plans for tomorrow, obviously, so how about we just treat each other normally on Monday? And leave off the kid, I’ll properly introduce you two on Monday in the lair, yeah?”

“Huh,” echoed Draco, “Alright, minimum effort and theatrics, fine by me.”

With a nod, he drifted off and Riko could see how very carefully he navigated through the washing machine that masqueraded as weather. With a bemused shrug she headed back out towards the lake, her eyes by now adjusted enough to suffice during the easier flight, especially with the window still a fixed point in her head.

Nue didn’t wobble quite as much this time as they slipped into the water, but then, the difference wasn’t really that big to the heavy sheets of rain. Shortly later Riko was touching cautiously what was to her rough, craggly rock but turned after a few moments into an invitingly open window.

She’d drawn the sigil for open window and then, on a hunch, said, well, mumbled, the password, which was seriously weird under water but worked well enough. Luckily, in hindsight, but Farrah stepped back in a way that suggested she might have drawn Riko in before letting her drown, which was really nice of her.

When Tony at last came in from the common room, probably after Draco had made his way back there, Riko was sitting relaxedly on her bed, grooming and polishing her broom. Riko herself was still a little damp but she’d changed into her usual sleeping t-shirt and pyjama bottoms and she wasn’t going to let Nue go without maintenance even if they hadn’t been out as long as usual for the Flying lessons. Lake water made up for that, and bristles should be dry, after all.

With the good feeling of accomplishment warming her, Riko slept very well that night. Indeed, as the Untouchables had agreed to meet for lunch in the Great Hall, to give them all a chance to sleep in and, not said out loud but true all the same, to give Amy a chance to retrieve Potter from Madam Pomfrey, it was well past breakfast when she at last rolled out of bed and headed out.

Oddly enough, now that she knew it was soon to end Riko was a little apprehensive of having to interact with her yearmates again. She’d have to factor it into her tutoring of Theo, and get used to dealing properly with what was after all her people, sort of. Resolutely she told herself it was good training and a good thing in general. She’d get back to being in the know regarding current rumours and such, and besides, it was not a good thing to be cut off, made you lazy, easier to attack, etcetera, etcetera. 

But instead of a peaceful morning, as soon as she was outside her room, even as distracted as she was, Riko’s only-slightly-paranoid habit of keeping track of her surroundings let her notice that something was up. Lots of people huddling together, looking around tensely, whispering, most in various stages of nerves. Huh, well, she was headed for the library until breakfast-lunch, so she couldn’t be bothered right now. One of the others was bound to know what was up. It turned out they did and it was something relevant, too.

There had been an attack, one that actually qualified as attack, as it had happened to a student, who was now also petrified and lying, or rather stored, in the hospital wing. Additionally, the gossiping part of the school was for some unfathomable reason convinced that Potter of all people was the ominous heir of Slytherin and had sicked some petrifying monster on the kid, which turned out to be the excitable Gryffindor with the camera, Colin Creevey. Just went to show, yet again, that whatever “everyone” knew was bound to be a load of crap.

Of course this nonsense stressed Amy like you wouldn’t believe and equally of course set them trying to find a way to solve the entire puzzle with new urgency. This was an entirely different thing from someone petrifying a stupid cat, after all, not just magically, as a cat had less innate resistance to magic even if it was harder to actually make anything stick, but also, well, morally or something. Petrifying students, seriously, that was simply not on, was it, who could be so crazy?

But they also had another thing to focus on, namely the next full moon and Riko’s insistence on well-timed activation and experimentation of different activators of the Polyjuice. It turned out the eyelash Polyjuice held a little longer than two hours, the fingernail version about four and the blood version twelve. It had Riko wait way past official dinnertime until she wasn’t Edie any more, and when Amy and Edie came back from the Great Hall with food, they bemoaned the lack of a camera to document the three Edies on the couch.

Still, as fun as this was, the next few days were anything but. Well, not exactly, but they were definitely tense and stressful. Monday, Edie insisted on going to double Charms and Transfigs after lunch, but they drew the line at Flying and Vi made heroically sure that Edie was in Madam Pomfrey’s care before going to the pitch for what was still a bloody damn washing machine masquerading as weather.

Afterwards, Vi used a previously activated and thus far less debilitating Edie-potion (the twelve hour version) to take her dinner as Edie on the Ravenclaw table and spend the rest of the evening and night being as Ravenclaw and Edie as possible. Amy and Riko spent their time at the shack, entertaining Edie in any way possible, no matter what form she was in. It was a rather unpleasant night for all.

Firstly thanks to the vile weather and secondly because the real, full-flagged full moon was set to be up round half-nine in the morning, which meant at night the transformation was rougher and then lasted until after the real zenith. This, in turn, meant that Riko, after taking care of Edie as good as she could, was about an hour late when she at last made it to Tuesday’s Terrible Transfigs Double.

They had agreed that Amy should be on time, although the arguments had varied. There was the part of Amy being far better able to take useful notes and explain them to Riko afterwards, and there was the fact Riko didn’t want to get Amy in trouble with her head-of-house, and also that it would simply not do to be late together because it would draw far more questions. Riko was immensely satisfied to have her carefully prepared plan work out exactly as intended. She’d only yesterday dealt with all the awkward reintegration and small-talk after officially burying the hatchet with Draco, she didn’t want to lose points or have anything endanger their carefully crafted return to last year’s normalcy. That had been very well done, if Riko said so herself.

During lunch she’d left Theo a note to sit at the big study table instead of their usual corner so that when Draco chose to walk over and sit by them it was visible to all that they were back to interacting in a friendly manner. It was also nice to introduce Theo very matter-of-factly as “this is my protégée, Theodore Nott, he’s going to join us in class in the new year.”

Always fun to yank on people’s faces, even if they managed to keep them on, even more so when they shared incredulous looks, thus already forming a light bond. Heh, she just loved it when a plan came together.

Which was also why she was so glad to come away from being an entire hour late for McGonagall’s class without losing any points, getting only a detention. Riko had prepared a lot for that, trying to predict every potential question of Gryffindor’s hard-assed head of house. Her full-on babble, backed by sufficient contents of the supposed book, had been a work of beauty, even Amy had to admit that later.

She’d started, of course, with a verbose apology, breathing heavily from her run from the Shrieking Shack, claiming she’d only been in the Library to look up something for a question about Transfigs into animals and checked her clock and it had still been plenty time and then she’d lost track of the time reading through the chapter again and only noticed that her watch had bought the farm when she’d looked at it again after half the chapter to see the time hadn’t changed at all which meant it was broken. After answering all of McGonagall’s questions about what she’d supposedly been reading and what her questions were and how she’d even got to reading that book to the deputy headmistress satisfaction, Riko all but collapsed in the place Amy had kept for her. Her heart was still going a mile a minute, though now it was from glee. She didn’t even care she’d have to turn back today’s pincushions back into hedgehogs this evening. The world was great.

She could even agree to McGonagall’s reasoning, absurd as that notion sounded. But with her real and honest interest in turning things into animals it really was good practice, even if in this case it was only a re-transformation into their natural state. She even got to visit Edie over lunch, Vi bringing something from the kitchens for all four of them after her double potions, though their friend was sleeping and they had to be very quiet to not get kicked out by Madam P.

Double Binns in the afternoon, however, was gruelling, as she wasn’t only sans Edie, she was also pledged to take notes about today’s lesson. By dinnertime Riko was glad she could form any sort of coherent words without trying to bang her head against the nearest surface. Edie was still looking mostly dead but had managed to talk Madam Pomfrey into letting her go to her dorm anyway. It was a stunning display, though Riko would have appreciated it far more if she didn’t have to stay awake through Astronomy this night without her friend. But first she had some pincushions to return to their happy hedgehog state and was shocked when it wasn’t hard at all. Admittedly, she was returning them to what they were originally supposed to be, but still.

The best part of the detention was that McGonagall just left her to it and went back into her adjacent office. Without the stern, exacting witch looking over her shoulder and going on about incomprehensible variables and derivations it wasn’t harder than a common swish-and-flick. Feeling accomplished and boosted by her entertainment at McGonagall’s suspicious look after she’d finished so quickly, Riko was at loose ends for about half a second. Midnight was still way off but she didn’t feel like trooping down into the lair only to have to interrupt whatever she wanted to do later to go up to Astronomy.

But hey, weren’t they currently trying to find any info on secret, hidden chambers and whatever creatures might be lurking inside them and whoever might be able to use them? Yes, indeed, they were, so logically, Riko set about exploring, ghosting along the corridors that led up to the entrance to the Astronomy tower, obscured and highly alert, periodically using her ninja-sonar.

Even so, the first she noticed about someone being around somewhere was the faint echo of sobs. This seemed so out-of-character for a Hogwarts corridor that Riko was really, seriously worried even after she was close enough for her ninja-sonar to confirm it was a small, living person and thus bound to be a student.

Well, whoever it was, at least they evidently weren’t petrified.

When she at last found the source, hidden in the niche behind a statue of a stately witch waving a long staff, Riko was shocked to recognize Ginny Weasley. Not so much at the girl being outside her dormitory at this time, she was an explorer after all, but that she’d be sitting here sobbing, and so loud that anyone might find her, too.

“Ahno, excuse me,” whispered Riko, acutely uncomfortable about intruding into the girl’s grief - but she couldn’t just let her get caught by Filch or worse, now could she?

 Ginny gave squeak of shock, though she did bite back on it as soon as it started and it wasn’t loud. It was hardly surprising, Riko had all but appeared from thin air for her, so she wasn’t going to hold it against her.

Besides, the younger girl looked rather terrible, pale and shivering and miserable, smeared trails of tears drying on her cheeks. Also, Ginny’s first instinct was to go for her wand, even if she did fumble a bit drawing it out of her bathrobe sleeve. Riko had to appreciate such a sensible approach and hurried to try and ease the girl’s mind.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, alright, no monster, just me,” Riko raised her hands to show her empty palms and tried to look reassuring. It seemed to work, as Ginny pushed her wand back, though she wormed her hands into the opposing sleeves and probably kept a hold on it. It was a valid precaution, and non-threatening enough to make Riko relax a little.

“As I said, sorry, but I heard you even two corridors over and, well, it seemed like a bad idea to just let you continue and I still have some time before Astronomy. I mean, perhaps you didn’t get around to testing it, but sound carries like mad in these corridors. Mind scooting over a bit, I don’t fancy standing out here when Filch or whoever else walks along. I’ll show you a neat trick if you do?”

Shooting her a look that ranged between wary and embarrassed, miserable and incredulous, Ginny Weasley drew back further into the niche, allowing Riko to squeeze in. With a warm, “Ta.” and a grateful smile Riko dug a piece of chalk from its pocket to draw a simple circle around them.

Well, it wasn’t, geometrically speaking, a circle, but the idea was clear and it was closed and that was what counted in this case. For her current purpose the magic didn’t care about perfect shape or that it only be on the floor. It was after all just a simple base, and half of it running along the wall above their heads it created a sort of bubble when Riko tapped her wand on it form the inside to attach her Charm.

“What’s Scutum Strepiti?” asked Ginny in a whisper, her sobs now less regular and pronounced.

What a thing to ask first, this girl was alright, definitely. Riko wondered what could be bad enough to have her in such a state but she wasn’t crazy enough to just ask.

“It’s a sound shielding charm,” she said quietly, “now we can hear what goes on outside but the outside can’t hear us. Well, we still have to be careful because it’s supposed to be cast on things like doors and such, even with curtains you have to fiddle a bit for it to work and the chalk doesn’t soak as well, not in it’s job description after all, so we still have to avoid noise. Quiet talking should be best because whispers carry further on their own and are harder to hold and all that.”

Riko trailed of with a small sigh. In situations like this, when she didn’t quite know what to say, babbling came quickly but she didn’t want to keep jabbering at the poor girl. It had to be bad form or something.

“Oh,” was all Ginny replied and then huddled into herself again.

The silence stretched, making Riko uncomfortable and annoyed at herself. Ginny was shivering beside her and from the corner of her eyes she could see her biting her lip.

“Say, are you cold? I know a simple warming charm, if you like, it’s not hard, you can probably learn it real fast, we learned it in first year, too, all the Slytherins, because the dungeons get so cold in the winter, and, well, most other classrooms are pretty damn chill by that time, too. May I?”

Riko inwardly shook her head at her own repeat babbling, but Ginny didn’t seem to mind. After a few moments of looking warily at Riko, she gave a nod. Riko made sure to pronounce it very carefully and make the wand motion very clear when she cast Calidus on the girl, showing very distinctly the way she guided with her wand which areas were to be warmed. They sat back again to silence, but it was a little less tense, now.

Ginny had taken her hands out of her sleeves and put them under her arms, still drawing into a small ball but also slowly relaxing from the warmth. “Ta,” she murmured after a while, “I can’t remember the last time I felt actually really warm.”

“Oh, no trouble at all. I imagine you’ll know how to cast that one yourself in no time, if you have any trouble with it just ask A.. I mean, Hermione,” Riko shrugged easily, pleased Ginny had decided to actually talk.

“Hm,” was the thoughtful reply and Riko knew the girl was now studying her from the corner of her eyes, just as Riko was doing. They shared a small smirk about it when they caught each other looking. “You’re not calling her Hermione, then?”

Well, she was obviously not only sly and quick but also direct and as curious as gutsy, reminding Riko of, well, no matter. It was a good thing, anyway, so Riko gave her a relaxed smile and answered honestly, though discreetly. “No, we don’t. We gave her a nickname for her birthday last year, and she liked it so she kept it.”

“Huh,” Ginny murmured and fell quiet again.

“So, are you alright or is there anything up? I mean, you still look really miserable and it, well, you don’t seem someone to be easily.. distraught..”

“Ta, I think,” was Ginny’s immediate answer, as if on reflex, then she fell silent and when Riko looked over she was looking ahead in thought and biting her lips again.

“You don’t have to tell me anything, of course, I just thought perhaps I could help, I still owe you for that time in the hospital wing and, well..”

“Huh, no offence, but could it be that you missed some chapters in the Evil Slytherin handbook?” Ginny threw her a slightly wary smile with her curious look, obviously still undecided.

“Eh, I think you have some bad sources,” Riko grinned easily at her and bent the facts just a little mane-wards, “There’s only a general Slytherin handbook and it doesn’t have any chapters on being evil. S’mostly about making people aware you’re a sharp player so they won’t bother you with stupid requests about saving their aunt when you really just want to have tea.”

Ginny actually gave a small laugh at that, making Riko’s grin grow even further, even when the girl hastily toned it down, looking with clear worry at the chalk line.

“Well, you’re safe from me, then, I don’t have any aunts I’d ever bother you about saving,” she grinned, then took a deep breath and looked forwards, at the cloak of the marble witch as if it held all the answers. “I just, well, I wanted some time alone cause everyone was annoying and I wanted some quiet, y’know,” she sneaked a look at Riko and, yes, Riko could understand that only too well, so she gave a nod.

It seemed to ease Ginny’s mind because she also gave a small absent nod and, looking back at the statue, added with a small shrug, “Well, and then it was sort of too quiet and I was all alone and feeling miserable about, well, about a lot of stupid things, and I never thought Hogwarts’d be like this and I feel so useless and stupid and alone almost all the time..”

She trailed off, looking utterly desolate again and Riko felt her eyebrows rise in disbelief. This girl was obviously very much alright and smart, why would she ever think that? And now she was back to biting her lip as if afraid to cry again. Hastily taking out a fresh handkerchief, Riko handed it over and looked away to dig around in the side pocket of her rucksack for some sweets. At last she found a Spice Salamander and handed him over, too.

“They’re good if you feel cold ’cause they spew little cinnamon flames in your mouth and generally warm you up pretty much like butterbeer,” seemed a safe thing to say and Ginny did relax a little again, obviously enjoying the antics of the little honey-spice treat wriggling around her tongue.

It didn’t stop Riko from feeling a right cad, as Vi would put it, for bringing the girl down like this, and after she’d already lightened up a little. Clearly this couldn’t be left to stand. How best to deal with this, though? Amy had hardly ever been that sad, hm, but when she was, yeah, rationality should do the trick, right? And distraction of course, that never hurt.

“Well, as I said you don’t have to tell me anything,” Riko started, looking at the statue to put the girl at ease. Nobody liked being stared at, right, specially if they weren’t doing so hot. Riko ran an uneasy hand through her hair. This was really not her department, comforting, the very idea.. just scary, really. But, well, needs must. With a small, resigned sigh she continued.

“But perhaps it might help. I mean if you worry about stupid things I can tell you they’re stupid and you needn’t worry and sometimes it helps to just, y’know, rant a little. Let off some steam and all that. If you like I can swear an oath to take your secrets to the grave..”

“Yeah, I’ll take that one,” grinned Ginny weakly and closed her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose. She looked very tired and a little ill.

“It’s just, I was so looking forward to coming here and meeting, well, meeting people and having fun. But now,” she shrugged dispiritedly, “Ron of course doesn’t want anything to do with his baby sister and Percy is always looking at me like Mum and the twins are just sort of annoying, though perhaps that’s because I’m always tired, I’m just not sleeping very well, I don’t even know why, and my yearmates are mostly kinda boring, like, we get along but none of them want to explore anything and I can’t even play Quidditch yet and..” she sighed again, hesitated a moment, then,

“..and I just can’t seem to do anything right, I mean, I couldn’t help with that.. on Hallowe’en and, y’know, Colin is my charms-partner, he was mostly alright I thought, and now I don’t even know what I was doing while he was sneaking around getting petrified and I’m constantly afraid I’ll fail everything, because I keep drifting off in class, and my notes make no sense and then Mum will be so angry and disappointed and Dad will be disappointed and sad and my brothers will make fun of me and I just.. I didn’t think it’d be like this..”

Once she’d started it was like dam had broken, letting the entire reservoir spill forth and Riko was left trying to get a solid overview without being flooded. Absently she drew out another sweet, a chocolate frog, and was glad Ginny was distracted by it’s jump. She looked absolutely miserable and Riko thought she’d probably kept all those depressing thoughts active for far too long, worrying herself sick.

“Hm,” she started, thinking carefully what to say. “I think you’re being too hard on yourself. For example, it’s not your fault you couldn’t help with the Hallowe’en thing, you were ill and busy being sick and whoever did it was probably long gone anyway. And with Creevey, I get that you're friendly, but I think you’re going a bit off the track there..”

Ginny looked at her curiously, so Riko tried to find a good way to explain her thoughts without sounding too much like a cold-hearted bastard.

“I’ll compare it to something, alright? Last year, A.. Hermione was attacked by some upper years and had to stay with Madam Pomfrey for a while afterwards. I was bloody beside myself, like, I wanted to grind the assholes that did it into fine paste and set them on fire. Now, I had the advantage of knowing who did it, meaning I could be angry at them. I didn’t have to sit around worrying who might’ve done it, and I wasn’t alone, and Madam Pomfrey was able to help her right away. But even so I felt really bad for quite a while, still do when I think about it.”

Ginny gave a small nod, seemingly seeing what Riko was getting at. Riko nodded back, heartened by that.

“See, it just happens, perfectly normal, right, but it’s not rational and not helpful, the opposite actually, so you gotta try and find something you can do about it, anything at all, and then concentrate on that. Useful distractions, s’what life’s all about, after all, right? For example you could decide to take better notes in your classes so that Creevey can read them, too, once he’s back, just a question of time, right. Or you could try to find the chamber, of course, but I’d recommend not doing that alone, it’d suck if you were petrified, too, eh?”

She’d said the last part mostly to lighten the mood, but Ginny gave a sort of dejected shrug that rubbed Riko entirely the wrong way – not against Ginny but against whatever had made her feel so bad she thought it was alright to be petrified.

“Oi now, listen here, I don’t know shit about how you are in your classes or whatever, but I can tell you it’d be a damn shame without that. And I’m just some Slytherin meeting you for the third time. That’s got to tell you something! And believe you me, with the people I have seen pass exams, well, let’s just say you needn’t worry overmuch. Did you find someone for Binn’s terrible tedium yet, by the way? Or anything great while exploring?”

Riko felt there’d been enough heavy matters, it was time to light it up a little. Besides, she didn’t have any siblings and a rather odd family situation, somehow she doubted she had any good advice to give on the other subjects Ginny had described. The girl was looking at her hands, likely embarrassed if the fading blush was any indication. Bending the card that had been inside the frog this way and that, she at last looked up a little sheepishly.

“Yeah, I found someone. She’s a little odd, but good company, ’specially for Binns but also in Astronomy. She’s in Ravenclaw, though, so we don’t get to hang out much,” she shrugged, but looked rather sad as she said it despite her casual display. “As for exploring, I seem to always get turned around somehow, like my orientation is messed up. Which is odd, because usually I have a good sense of direction. Mostly empty rooms of all sorts so far..”

Riko could hear the disappointment in her tone and felt for the girl. Great distraction, a little voice in the back of her head remarked snidely, better try again, eh? And yes, of course, even if the moment’s pause didn’t help and sighing was right out now.

“Hm,” Riko said, and then, “Well, if your Ravenclaw friend is alright, why don’t you just take her along for exploring? Or you could just hole up in one of those empty rooms and do your homework together if you don’t want to do it in the library. It’s what the four of us do and it works pretty well.”

“Hm,” was Ginny’s thoughtful, echoing reply and Riko realized the girl was eyeing her with curiosity again. “In that case, should I ask why you’re sneaking around the seventh floor at this time of night, alone?”

Riko blinked at the sudden question, but considering she’d just warned the girl to not walk around alone, and that said girl didn’t know Riko well enough to know she could take care of herself, it was fair enough. Besides, she did have a good, actually fantastic, answer, be a shame not to use it.

“Oh, I’m just killing time before Astronomy later, and Edie isn’t feeling well and went to bed, and it’s Tuesday so the others are with their houses, and I had detention with McGonagall after dinner so I was already set to head up from there.”

“Huh,” grinned Ginny at Riko’s happy babbling. “You seem in an awfully good mood for coming from a detention with McGonagall. Do I even want to know what you did? Y’know, I heard some interesting tales of last year’s prank war..”

Riko gave a short, pleased laugh before getting ready to defend her relative innocence in this matter. “Oh, it was an alright detention, I just had to turn some pincushions back into hedgehogs and there weren’t many anyway, only about half the class managed it even halfway. And considering that I was about an hour late and she didn’t even take any points, I think it’s a damn good turn-out.”

Ginny gaped at that, rightly impressed if Riko said so herself, and so she had to tell the story in all it’s glory. Well, she had to leave out certain parts, mentioning only she’d got held up helping a friend out and had read through the book over the weekend, but still. Ginny had obviously no trouble imagining enough reasons why one might want to learn turning things into animals instead of the other way around, which was nice. They had a pleasant talk about how tiresome it was that there was so little helpful information on transfiguring into animals while there was tons of boring books about doing it in the opposite direction. Admittedly, it was probably more directly useful to turn wildlife into items you could use, culturally or whatever, but it was also utterly boring.

Unfortunately it seemed of the few people who had made it their business to turn into animals rather than the other way, most had been rather off the rails and only used it on their enemies and to make mischief. At least that seemed the consensus, though Riko thought those accounts were biased by people irrationally scared of being turned into goats or pigs, like Circe had done.They were, well, not interrupted, but distracted when Filch strode by their hiding place in a vengeful manner that made Riko glad they were hidden so well and that Mrs Norris was still out for the count. She’d laid an Obscurantis around their hiding place, over the circle, but that damn cat still might’ve found them out, she was just like that and cats were always tricky anyway. 

They looked at each other, when he’d passed by like a particularly angry lorry and stifled the giggles that threatened to erupt. Then Riko took a look at her watch and hastily rose, gathering her rucksack and sketching a small bow to Ginny.

“Been a pleasure but I have to beg off now. Don’t think I could come up with a good story to appease Professor Sinistra in time, I don’t read Astronomy in my free time, after all. It’ll be bad enough to have to trudge through it without Edie but I have to take notes for her, too.”

She heaved a great dramatic sigh and was glad to see Ginny smile a little at her antics. Still, she couldn’t help but worry a little. “You going to be alright? You can stay here for a while yet, if you like, the chalk should hold up for a bit still..”

“Nah, that’s alright, I think I’ll try getting some sleep,” Ginny smiled drily, not exactly making Riko’s worries smaller.

“Well, in that case please let me walk you to your corridor, at least, I still got time for that and I’d feel much better not leaving you here. Oh, relax already, I’ve known for ages where the entrance to your house is, if you want I’ll lead the way to prove it.”

Ginny looked pensive for a moment, but then she nodded decisively and confidently laid her hand on Riko’s arm when it was offered with a great, sweeping bow. 

“Fantastic, now, as soon as we leave this circle we’ll have to be ultra quiet, right? So my last words, besides of course _good night, m’lady_ , are to recommend Hermione if you need any notes on stuff you missed, and also I recommend looking into Wideye Potions. They’re pretty much what happens if you don’t get an Energy Potion right, and those should be mentioned pretty soon. Just, y’know, so you don’t suddenly fall asleep in Transfigs or Potions, that could turn ugly..”

Ginny rolled her eyes at Riko’s exaggerated grin and wriggling eyebrows, but she also smiled a little. Nice as this was, Riko was rather glad the way to the Gryffindor corridor wasn’t far -not because it was unpleasant to sneak along with Ginny, who was pretty good about tagging after her, but because she had of course obscured them after cleaning the chalk away with a small flick of her wand but not explicitly told Ginny about it.

They didn’t run into any trouble though, so Riko took her leave with another exaggerated bow, receiving a fair imitation in reply, and then made her way to Astronomy. She rather wished she had a Wideye potion herself by then, because after a night of _distract the werewolf_ and this rather busy day Riko was starting to feel really winded. And Astronomy was just not a subject for a tired brain.

It certainly had potential, with it’s obscure and often contradicting mythical stories associated to all the countless stars, but Sinistra’s very dry presentation and fixation on courses and mechanics just killed it. As was, Riko doggedly observed through her telescope and noted down boring figures and notations and diagrams. Still, she was greatly relieved when she was finally back down in the lair, her part done and her yearmates peaceful and settled. Tony had caught her over dinner, just sat with her, giving her the courtesy of doing the first step and not even wanted anything for it. Well, she’d offered to renew their usual deal of History-notes for roomy-services, as Riko liked to call it.

That in itself was a courtesy and thus a favour sort-of-owed, and the deal itself was too, really, if you wanted to see it like that. Well, the info on Professor Snape or the prefects handling house-matters was a very real convenience but of course for Tony it was it’s own fun, her giving “just a general overview of what you miss by only being around three days a week, dear, it’s at least half the reason you still haven’t got a snake name, y’know”. But then, it also meant Tony was always the one to get main questioning rights if Riko got into anything, which in turn gave her even more stories to spread and handle. At the same time it was favourable for Riko, as it meant she only had to tell one person if something was indeed up and could rest peacefully, knowing that soon everyone who should know it would know it. So, the favour went round, really, and it was just a really nice.. symbiosis, right, that was the word. 

The others hadn’t picked sides anyway, so there was no need for gestures or whatever, maybe she’d just show up at one of the house-internal duelling meets again, like.. uh.. about maybe a dozen times last year, if that? Huh, or maybe she’d just be cautiously friendly with them over breakfast tomorrow. Both, probably, in time. The duelling meets were always good for people to let off their steam at you, beside the learning of neat new tricks, but even with this double incentive, well, triple, if you considered the learning of ending a hexx or curse or charm it’s own thing - but even so Riko viewed them mostly as a chore. Not like you’d want to really cut loose, there, showing your hand and all, but you still had to make a good showing and just..eh.

Anyway, that was all cleared up now, or at least as good as, giving her the feeling it was alright to relax a little and just fall into bed, knowing she could sleep in tomorrow. After all, Edie was unlikely to be down early, still feeling the after-effects of the transformation, and Amy and Vi wouldn’t mind taking breakfast by themselves before they headed out for Herbology first period. Seriously, bloody gods and spirits, why couldn’t it be the winter holidays already?


	13. The Duelling Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Parseltongue is used, and no actual duelling is learned. Other than that, progress /can/ be defined as excluding certain things and the Hogwarts population is exciteable in their emotional status. Also, water is wet, all the more when it lands anywhere on you or yours.

Riko had been so distracted by all the things she had to handle and research that it took her a bit to really catch onto the hysteria that was sweeping the school. Left, right, and centre people were going on about the heir and his monster, either scared or trying to scare others and at least half of them seemed convinced it was Potter. The rest were looking at any Slytherin like they were either catching or with such fearful anger that Riko felt well justified in being increasingly annoyed. Indeed, after a full double Herbology lesson of McDougal eyeing her like that Riko wanted to punch her in the face and dearly wished she really could petrify the damn girl.

Draco found it all hilarious of course, strutting about like he was the heir himself, while most others tended to ignore it in a show of unassailable confidence. Either way all Slytherins became very careful where they went and with whom, clearly worried about their house status leading to trouble or their blood status getting them or their friends in trouble despite their house status. Farrah, for example, didn’t let Cynthia out of eyeshot unless they were in the Lair, and Tony acted more like a mother cat about her adoptees than a rattlnesnake, if you paid attention. Riko also overheard Grey and Gemma chewing out a few people for harassing fellow Slytherins about their blood status, trying to frighten them into buying supposed protection amulets and the like. It gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling to hear the prefects rage like that, as if she wasn’t the only sane one in a world of nutters.

But even so, the infection of fear spread. Not just first-years could only be seen in groups any more, not daring to walk anywhere alone, and the secret trade with supposedly protective amulets was still spreading. Amy had apparently yelled at the Weasley twins for selling a string of garlic to Neville, who was despite his pureblood status afraid of being targeted because, as he himself put it, he was almost a squib and they had gone for Filch first, hadn’t they. Whoever those ominous _they_ were supposed to be, Filch was still in his usual bad health and mood, stalking along the corridors and eyeing everyone with suspicious, bulbous eyes. It was simply ridiculous, as if the entire school had gone nuts, well, again, after the prank war, but that had been fun of a sort. This here wasn’t. Amy’s rant had Riko worried her friend might’ve set the Twin Terrors on herself, they were after all wicked sharp all-purpose pranksters, but nothing happened. At least one good thing. They’d probably laughed it off or were viewing her as a sort of house-pet after last year’s shenanigans. Or maybe they knew better than to mess with witches who had a temper. That Howler had been from their Mum, after all.

But as unpleasant as the climate had turned, it seemed as if her own house got off lightest in all that drama, so Riko refrained from commenting. Well, refrained even more than usual, not like she was ever talkative about the goings-on of her house, and complaining of the received treatment was just nothing to bring to her friends. It had to be really bad, as was, to make her friends go on like that. House loyalty was different in the towers, yes, but still, it was new to have them constantly ranting (in their usual manners, mind) about their insane housemates. And Vi was clearly especially hard-hit, to say anything at all; Riko had never seen her so annoyed at her housemates although she could understand it. Justin Finch-Fletchley was walking around like he expected to be eaten any second by some monster and that pompous git Ernie Macmillan would tell anyone who wanted to listen that it just had to be Potter and they should better look out. It was enough idiocy to drive anyone round the bend, especially her friend, who had some better standards for justice and loyalty than her loud, bothersome housemate.

Despite all this insanity, or perhaps even helped by it as neither Vi nor Edie felt any inclination to go watch the Quidditch match between their houses, they were slowly starting to make some progress in their search for answers. The books that had been taken out of the library after the Hallowe’en prank were slowly being returned, and with the story about the stupid chamber already out and about, hardly anyone who had signed on the various waiting lists was still interested in them. Soon the Untouchables were up to their elbows in more dusty tomes than they could literally shake a stick at, well, a wand, but same difference, really, for this.

They had agreed that even if it was hard, trying to find any helpful info on three very nebulous fronts (monsters, potential heirs of Slytherin, and mention of secret chambers for use by a guardian or monster) they just couldn’t afford to miss a clue, not with how slim their chances in all the different subjects were. And besides, it all had to be connected somehow, to make any sort of sense. So they rotated subjects, bringing each other up to speed in short reports every few days and generally spent every free minute either reading, taking notes, or explaining. Theo had stopped looking at her oddly on account of her books but became increasingly tense as the time passed. But then, he was supposed to take the first-year exams in the last week before the winter holidays, and with his insistence on not just passing but passing with perfect grades it was hardly surprising he was increasingly stressed. Riko regularly went over his notes with him, both for last year’s subjects and this year’s, asking questions on the subjects and trying to calm him.

It was only a few weeks away, yes, but he was doing well and if he didn’t chill at least a little he’d just fry his brain and start to forget things. That was, admittedly, perhaps not the nicest thing to say, but he really had to learn to relax a little and he also needed to get used to bullshitting as courtesy. Sometimes she seriously wondered who had raised him or if he’d ever had proper contact with people before coming here. And he was going to join her as a yearmate soon, and none of the others were overly serious. It was relevant that he be able to recognize humour when it bit him in the nose, far more than to go over some idiot wizard’s birth- or death-date the umpteenth time. It had very little to do with Riko needing an occasional outlet for her natural mischief, or her being simply too damn busy to get any decent pranks set up.

After all, she now had to, additionally to her usual mess, plan and set into motion matters of anonymous informering that would leave the Drake family too busy to bother Vi for staying away for the holidays, and also try to come up with decent gifts for all her friends, double so in case of Edie, for her birthday, which required unreasonable amounts of thought and the occasional forging of alliances to pool resources, and why the blazes had the days only twenty-four hours, anyway? Because, as December had rolled round, the Untouchables had started to actually explore the things they’d researched so far, which meant they spent even less time sleeping and more time sneaking around the castle. Even with her supply of Wideye potions Riko was yearning for the holidays to start already, especially after Professor Snape told them again to inform him about their plans in the space of a week. 

When she mentioned this root of her newly lit fire of holiday passion, Amy broke her own absent-minded grumbling on why the monster was probably not a chameleon ghoul but quite possibly invisible or at least unnoticeable, to give them a piece of unwelcome news. She was staying at Hogwarts over the holidays! They were all quite shocked, but Amy quickly explained. 

She had to make sure Potter and Ronald (as Riko had taken to calling him, because it annoyed him, and because she didn’t want to call him Ron as if he were her friend instead of Amy’s, _and_ because with the currently five Weasleys at Hogwarts she couldn’t just use his last name, now could she?) anyway, Amy felt she had to make sure Potter and Ronald didn’t get themselves killed or expelled in some stupid way over their current project of outing Malfoy as the Slytherin heir. She was still going to visit of course, both for Edie’s birthday and over the holidays, and they could visit Hogwarts, too, after all, via The Three Broomsticks and the Shrieking Shack. They all agreed she had valid points there and were relieved they’d still get to see her over the holidays, but it was a bit of a downer. But so was their continued lack of success, even if Riko was willing to admit they were making some progress. If you wanted to call finding things that weren’t helpful and crossing them off the list progress, and that was still tediously slow in going.

At first they had mostly focussed on the first dungeon level, after all that’s where they’d heard the voice, then the ground floor, as Mrs Norris had been attacked there (though Riko still felt the word was out of place in this context) and then the first floor, as Creevey had been attacked on the stairs close to the hospital wing. So far to no avail. Oh, they discovered a handful of internal secret passages, some connecting corridors that normal architecture wouldn’t ever let link, some spanning two or more floors with differently non-euclydian, escher-esque stairs. Then there were the hidden rooms, most of them smallish classrooms directly attached to what had obviously been living quarters of the teachers in centuries past. They were all smaller than their room on the third floor and had no offices, as if they’d just lived there and taught who- and however they liked. There was also the occasional separate bathroom of various centuries past, all of them with at least one big bathtub even if they completely differed in style otherwise.

They had also found that some rooms exited to different places and, if you did it quite right, could be accessed that way, too. For example, one day when Vi stomped out of the library in a tense huff over Herbology and Macmillan again she ended up in a dark, unused looking corridor in what turned out to be the first floor. Some careful tests later they had their own, private entrance to Madam Pince’s domain, though it leading to the usual entrance area of the library was a bit disappointing. Well, it still made it easier for Vi and Riko to sneak in at night, cutting three floors of potential trouble out of the way, so it was a good deal, either way.

Then, in the week of the full moon, Amy was increasingly tense and Riko at first assumed it was because it was the Gryffindor’s turn to be Edie for a night. As it turned it hadn’t been just that. Afterwards Riko thought it should have been obvious, Amy could pass as a Ravenclaw pretty much any day of the week, as long as she remembered to not get upset at something or other but, well, hindsight. As was, during Thursday double potions, the matter of Edie’s lunar problem taken care of for this year, Amy, still tense and quiet, suddenly and shockingly made Riko an accomplice of petty theft, at least as far as Riko could tell. It was mostly funny and a little odd, Amy was hardly ever secretive unless it was a private matter of Potter’s. Which probably should have explained everything immediately. 

One moment Riko was minding her own business, distractedly and not just a little tiredly checking her cauldron full of swelling solution, next Amy pulled her down just as there was a loud bang to their left. The very next moment her friend had already slipped out the door while the rest of the class was shrieking and blundering about after being hit in various places with hot potion.

It left Riko alone in a room full of agitated, grotesque looking figures. Draco suddenly had to hold onto a gigantic version of his aristocratic nose, while Gregory had the misfortune of getting hit in the eyes. They were big as plates and looked utterly unpleasant, in an of themselves and also as if they didn’t deal well with it. Which yeah, finniky, so many nerves and terribly-difficult-to-regrow tissue. Shite, the poor sod! There was a reason that, having read up on some medical basics, the Untouchables had made eyes and the like the top priority to protect when Edie hit her satellite state. Others had arms or legs turned into giant clubs, making them look like they were part troll, and Seamus Finnegan and Lavender Brown had lips the size of sausages, rendering them incapable of speech or proper breathing.

“Silence! SILENCE!” roared Professor Snape, while Riko leaned out of sight and looked around appreciatively, deciding keep this potion in mind for when they had need for the more targeted kind of pranks again, as opposed to their usual motto of confuse over abuse, soon as they finished the stupid mystery about that heir. Even his knife-sharp follow-up “Anyone who has been splashed, come here for a Deflating Draught. When I find out who did this..” did nothing to dissuade her, only adding potential uses of Deflating Draught to her mental list. (What would happen if a non-inflated person were to ingest that one, after all, inquiring minds wanted to know, for, as Amy would say once she was back, science, obviously!)

It took a while for about half the class to lumber up to Professor Snape’s desk, forming a line of truly epic weirdness as they waited their turn for a swig of the antidote. Before they were even close to finished, Amy had slipped back into the room, the front of her robes bulging from something she quickly transferred to her bag. At Riko’s questioning look she shook her head, blushing wildly.

“I’m helping Harry and Ron out with something and we needed something from his private stores,” she whispered, nodding in the direction of Professor Snape, who was still handing out Deflating Draught to the last few misshapen figures left. “I’ll tell you, all of you, afterwards, honestly. It’s just, it’s complicated, alright?”

She looked so apologetic and worried that Riko, tired as she was, really couldn’t help but nod, throwing back a warm smile and a casual “Sure, no worries.”

By then Professor Snape had swept to the source of the tragedy, Gregory’s cauldron, and scooped out the twisted, black remains of what appeared to be a Filibuster fireworks. There was a sudden hush, a collective taking of breath. Professor Snape’s voice was no louder than a whisper, but it was very audible.

“If I ever find out who did this,” he threw a positively murderous look at Potter, “I shall make sure that person is expelled.”

Amy and Riko shared a look at that, somewhere between bemused and apprehensive. Potter was always Professor Snape’s first suspect, no matter what was going on, and if it was on the opposite end of the room. Even with Goyle sent to the hospital wing it had a certain sort of irony to it, that he was actually right this time. Especially considering it had only been a distraction. The remaining ten minutes of the lesson were tense, riddled even more than usual by Professor Snape’s temper against any Gryffindor that caught his eye and Potter in particular. Even with the often cringeworthy behaviour of the Lion house, it was still embarrassing to see her head of house be so blatant about his partiality, simply ignoring Draco throwing newts eyes at Potter and Ronald while he’d come up with the most dire detentions if any of them ever retaliated.

“I’ll see you at Edie’s, you’ll get the food, right?” was Amy’s breathless question, well, request, as soon as the lesson ended, to let her go and do whatever she was planning with her two housemates.

Riko gave her a nod and wave and made sure no one was following her as she made her way to the kitchen and then up to the hospital wing. The afternoon’s double Herbology lesson was a dismal drag without Edie, not because of the subject, which was interesting enough, but because of the continually unpleasant company of Edie’s housemates, not improved in the least by Draco’s continued antics. If this kept up, she’d feel morally obligated to do some serious, unfriendly pranking, especially on McDougal. Riko felt exhausted and doubly glad when Madam P decided Edie was well enough to let her go to dinner in the Great Hall with them, of course under the usual strict orders to take care of her. They holed up in their room again, digging through stacks of books until long after lights out. Edie had fallen asleep over her book and as they didn’t want to wake her they simply settled around her, lumbering down straight from there to breakfast next day. The couch was really alright to sleep on if you had enough people to make a pile and didn’t want to make a habit of it.

Tony welcomed her back in the evening with a summary of Professor Snape’s in-house reaction to the explosion and then it was oddly surprising when Riko realized only on Monday that Theo’s exams were starting this very day. They were scheduled for the evening, which Riko thought rather unkind, what with how stressful that had to be after a full day of lessons, but Theo of course didn’t complain, the crazy swot. If Riko didn’t know better she’d wonder if he was related to Amy. It wasn’t easy but she managed to get her protégée to relax a little over dinner and when he came back had to all but force him to go and get some sleep already and not keep revising in the middle of the night. No matter how busy she was, though, Riko couldn’t have missed the excitement over the announcement of a duelling club if she’d tried.

It was a very short notice that had been pinned up on the board in the Entrance Hall next morning, only stating the time and place: this evening, eight o’clock, in the Great Hall. There was no way they wouldn’t go, of course. It was bound to be entertaining, Theo would still be busy with his exam, and Vi was hoping Professor Flitwick would be there and show them some of his tricks. Apparently he’d been a duelling champion when he was younger. That last part unfortunately didn’t happen, but Riko thought it was a worthwhile, if odd and insane, event anyway, and by now she had got so used to the local odd and insane she just couldn’t be bothered to act like it was anything out of the ordinary.

This being a house day, they arrived separately and while Riko quickly collected Edie and Vi, Amy was with her two insane Gryffindors so they only drifted close and waved over carefully. Riko looked around but she couldn’t see Ginny, which struck her as odd until she remembered the note had said for second years and up. Well, Tony’s three little serpents were here anyway, but of course you had to expect something like that, and it seemed to be working, too, nobody telling them to leave. The long dining tables were gone and there was a long golden stage along one wall, lit only by the many candles floating overhead. The ceiling of the Great Hall was a full, velvety black that made her want to curl up and sleep when she looked up, so Riko kept her eyes on her more immediate surroundings. There were excited whispered, for once not sounding all scared and suspicious, and then Lockhart walked on the stage, decked out in robes of deepest plum and accompanied by none other than Professor Snape in his usual buttoned-up, shadow-black outfit.

Riko felt her eyebrows rise and turned to share a curious look with her two friends. This was _not_ going to be boring. Lockhart took to the stage like he was born to it, waving an arm for silence and getting it almost immediately.

“Gather round, gather round, now! Can everyone see me clearly? Can you all hear and understand me? Splendid, splendid!” He turned his usual dashing, twinkly-white smile on them like a flash light. “Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little Duelling Club, to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves, just as I myself have done on countless occasions – for full details, see my published works,” he ended with a small bow as if in response to applause which only he could hear.

“Now, let me introduce my assistant Professor Snape,” Lockhart continued, straightening and flashing another wide smile. “He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about duelling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don’t want any of you youngsters to worry – you’ll still have your Potions master when I’m through with him, never fear!” 

Professor Snape’s lip was curling as he ignored the man beside him and let his black gaze sweep over the crowd, as if daring anyone to make any sort of response to Lockhart’s words. Nobody did, the entire hall was eerily silent. Riko wondered how Lockhart could be smiling with her head of house all but murdering him with his eyes. And in moments quite possibly murdering him with his wand, purely accidentally of course. The weird blond really had guts. Then the teachers moved to face each other and bowed. Well, Lockhart made an elaborate bow with much twirling of hands while Snape only jerked his head in an irritable nod, hilariously resembling Vi’s usual greeting of Fina. Then they raised their wands in front of them like swords, obviously not intending to teach quick drawing.

“As you can see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position,” Lockhart told the silent crowd, making Riko’s eyebrows rise yet again and share another look with Vi, while he continued talking, “On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill of course.”

Looking at Snape’s teeth bare in a nasty smile Riko wasn’t quite sure of that, if only through death of embarrassment with whatever he might do to Lockhart, but mostly she wondered if Lockhart really knew so little about duelling or if he just wanted to start them off slowly or if he was simply pulling everyone’s leg again. There was a number of accepted combative positions, if one really wanted to do without the draw, which was usually an important part, too, even if it wasn’t in the official tournament etiquette. Well, and probably not much use against a petrifying monster, but then, what use would duelling be in that situation anyway?

Meanwhile, shooting another dazzling smile at the crowd, Lockhart intoned loudly and evenly “One – two – three -”

Both men swung their wands up and over their shoulders. Professor Snape’s arm came down first. “Expelliarmus!” he intoned loudly, clearly, very educational, really.

In a harsh flash of scarlet light Lockhart was blasted off his feet. He flew backwards off the stage, smashed into the wall, and slid down into uncoordinated sprawl on the floor. The Untouchables winced as one and eyed the Potion master with fresh respect. Riko had of course known her head of house was a hard-assed menace, and she meant that as the highest compliment, but to see the amount of power he’d put in a spell they all knew and used rather regularily was quite another thing. She hadn’t seen Lockhart’s face, but from his lazy air and the sharp glint in Professor Snape’s eyes Riko was convinced he could have shot the spell on the upswing already and had simply enjoyed toying with his opponent, much like Vi in their early trainings. It was not so much shocking as, well, oddly reassuring, to know her head of house was just that good with a wand.

Draco, Vingory, and the Sorrentinos cheered while Tony smirked at her court. Amy was dancing on tiptoes trying to see if Lockhart was alright, and her two Gryff companions looked like schadenfreude incarnate, for once not ragging on the head of house Slytherin. Riko traded amused and admittedly slightly smug looks with Edie and Vi. Yup, bound to be entertaining, alright. Meanwhile, Lockhart was getting unsteadily to his feet, from the looks of it not even realizing he’d lost his hat, or that his hair was standing on end. 

“Well, there you have it!” he said, climbing awkwardly back onto the platform. “That was a Disarming Charm – as you can see, I’ve lost my wand – ah, thank you, Miss Brown. Yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don’t mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy. However, I felt it would be instructive to let them see..”

Professor Snape looked positively homicidal now and Lockhart seemed to decide to play it safe, for once. He cleared his throat. “But enough demonstrating, let’s get you lot started. I’m going to come down and sort you into pairs for this. Professor Snape, if you’d like to help me..?”

Riko heard him partner Neville with Justin Finch-Fletchley while she was looking around, searching for potential matches, as did Edie and Vi. They practised against each other often enough after all, this was a legal chance to have some serious fun. They were currently between a group of Ravenclaws and a group of Hufflepuffs, so.. catching sight of McDougal, Riko trailed in the direction with a sharp smile, Vi was homing in on Ernie Macmillan and Edie was.. drifting towards Amy and her two unfortunate companions? Keeping half an eye on her target and on not alerting it, Riko watched Snape head straight for Potter like a vampire stalking it’s prey.

Some minutes later, everyone was grouped in either the best or worst possible way, depending on how you looked at it. Riko was grinning lazily at McDougal; Vi was very much not grinning at Macmillan, her face all business; Edie was eyeing the Gryffindor Patil in a cool and neutral way that had Riko make a note to ask questions later; Amy was smiling weakly at Em, which was not returned; and Potter was looking with his usual mix of dislike and worry at Draco.

“Face your partner!” called Lockhart, back on the platform, “and bow!” 

Riko gave a tense, perfunctory bow, bending only a little at the waist and not taking her eyes of McDougal, who was doing the same, pale with what looked to be a mix of anger and fear. 

“Wands at the ready!” shouted Lockhart. “When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponent – only to disarm them – we don’t want any accidents. One.. two.. three..” 

McDougal started at two, obviously nervous and not willing to wait for her turn to get hit, and Riko had to duck wildly. She came up with a fierce smirk. After her trainings with Vi this straightforward attack was almost laughable, and on the upswing Riko pushed as much power as she felt reasonably possible without damaging her wand into her own Expelliarmus, voicing it with a clear, vicious delight. 

Her opponent had obviously not expected any sort of evasion, much less such a spirited one, and looked very, very shocked, for all of one moment, then she was blasted backwards. She didn’t fly as far as Lockhart had, but then, there were people behind her, so Riko counted it as enough of a first victory when the girl cleanly bowled over Michael Corner. And without any use of quicktime, too, hah. He was another one of the idiots constantly eyeing any Slytherin like lepers, and seeing them struggle in a heap of limbs improved Riko’s mood immensely. She took a small step forward and picked up McDougal’s wand, just to avoid anyone accidentally stepping on it of course, and then, to show how utterly unimpressed she was by her opponent, she looked around.

Macmillan was curled up on the floor, looking very pale while Vi held his wand with a look of professional smugness, if that was even possible. Patil was looking daggers at Edie, who was offering her a hand up with a bland smile, the Gryffindor’s wand tucked securely in her belt. Amy was.. why was Amy grappling with Em? A few steps further, Draco was bowed over, laughing hysterically and holding his sides, probably hit with a Rictusempra, while Potter was looking like his usual shocked and angry self as his feet were moving in a disorganized sort of quickstep. Of course those two couldn’t just do the spell they were supposed to, how utterly unsurprising.

“Stop! Stop!” yelled Lockhart over the din of a crowd gone wild, but it was Professor Snape who took charge.

“Finite Incantatem!” he shouted, aiming at the two boys. Draco recovered quickly from the tickling charm, standing hastily. Potters feet stopped moving. Both looked a little shaken. Amy and Em were still wrestling on the floor, their wands forgotten beside them, until Vi and Potter, being closest, started to pull them apart. 

“Dear, dear,” said Lockhart, hurrying through the crowd, looking a mix between shocked and amused at the aftermath of the duels. “Up you get Macmillan.. careful there Miss Fawcett.. pinch it hard, it’ll stop bleeding in a second, Boot.. Really, I think I’d better teach you how to block unfriendly spells,” he concluded with a distracted sigh, standing flustered in the midst of the hall. He threw one glance at Professor Snape, whose black eyes were glinting bad-tempered obsidian death at him, and looked quickly away in such an obvious gesture that Riko felt half insulted at the overdone acting and half like laughing out loud.

Throwing McDougal’s wand back in the vague direction of where the girl was still trying to sit up, she sidled over to her friends, curious how this odd lesson was going to continue. Some bare minutes later, Riko wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or groan or both, when Professor Snape suggested Draco and Potter as the pair to demonstrate the shielding charm. A shielding charm that, judging from the way Lockhart demonstrated, or rather started to demonstrate before dropping his wand, was the one Vi liked to use to get some breathing space because it could stay around, unlike most others which were only good against one attack. It was pretty complicated, so much so that Vi was still the only one who could regularly get it right when pressed in combat. A clear set-up for disaster, and Riko almost wished she’d brought popcorn.

Professor Snape was his usual Potter-vs-Malfoy self, leaning to Draco to probably give him a hilarious-yet-easily-controlled tip. Potter looked like a deer caught in the headlight, asking Lockhart to please show him the gesture for the shield spell again but the teacher just clapped him on the shoulder and started the count to madness.

Instead of the shield, Draco used Serpensortia to call up a long black snake, leaving Potter to stand frozen before it as it reared up, angered to be thrown into this odd situation. Of course, even if he’d got his shield up it would’ve been entirely useless against the snake, it not being a spell, even if it was summoned and not actually a living being. Professor Snape was quite obviously pleased and enjoying the scene, despite his words of handing it in a moment, which allowed Lockhart to jump in again, brandishing his wand in a grand gesture. Riko almost laughed out loud at the look of dread on Potter’s face, like he was having a flashback to losing all the bones in his arm.

In hindsight, the clueless boy-who-lived might have actually preferred that. There was a loud bang, but instead of vanishing the snake flew about ten feet in the air and fell back on the floor with a loud smack. Riko winced. The snake, hissing furiously in incoherent rage, reared again and then shot straight forward, trying to find a way out. This took it directly at Justin Finch-Fletchley, who couldn’t move out of the way even if he wanted, with all the people round him. The Snake reared up again, fangs exposed and ready to strike. Riko winced in anticipation of the panicky Hufflepuff getting bit in the nose or something equally dismal, when Potter lurched forward, shouting.

“Leave him!”

Riko wasn’t quite sure what was weirder, Potter acting like a complete nut or the snake actually listening to him. No wait, she did know: it was definitely the snake, or anything else for that matter, actually listening to Potter, and not exploding or otherwise wreaking utter havoc. Instead, the snake simply curled up, perfectly docile and calm. It had to be the craziest, most bizarre thing Riko had ever witnessed around Potter, hands down. 

Even weirder, however, and that was saying a lot, was that the rest of the people appeared to share her opinion, drawing back further and looking at Potter as if he’d suddenly grown three extra heads or something. Potter was looking up at Finch-Fletchley with a pleased grin, which was understandable, he had just saved his ass, or, more likely nose, but the Hufflepuff boy was even paler than before, looking all but ready to faint. 

“What do you think you’re playing at?” he shouted and, before a stunned Potter could even open his mouth to reply, turned and stormed out of the Hall.

Potter gaped in confusion, looking around with wide, clueless eyes as Professor Snape stepped forward and calmly let the snake disappear in a puff of black smoke. Riko realized her head of house was eyeing the dazed-looking boy with a look of shrewd, calculating interest, devoid of his usual dislike, which had to be a first ever occurrence. Potter seemed to realize it, too, staring back like a hypnotised rabbit. Riko heard murmurs and whispers well up around her like waves, but she couldn’t make out anything separate, so focussed was she on the odd staring contest. Then Amy and Ronald swooped in to collected their shell-shocked, insane friend, tugging him backwards on his robe and all but dragging him out the Hall. On the way to the door, everyone drew back from the trio as if Potter was radioactive. 

“Well, I say, that was quite a performance, eh?” smiled Lockhart winsomely as the murmuring increased, everyone back to huddling in tight groups and looking scared. 

He was clearly trying to lighten the mood but it didn’t work as hardly anyone spared him any attention. With a great sigh and a strange, unreadable look at Snape he announced the end of the meeting and the two started herding everyone out. Waving distractedly at Edie and Vi, Riko tagged along after her housemates, trying to make sense of what had just happened. At least as there were now fewer people around her, so she could make out snippets of the conversations. Back in the lair, Riko sat down heavily on her usual place at the big study table, drumming her fingers on the book she was currently working through.

Theo was going to get back round ten, could she sneak up into the library in that time and find anything useful? Or was it better to continue with this.. ugh, this long-winded, convoluted autobiography which might or might not include hints to the layout of the rooms designed-and-or-built around the year.. 1100. With a defeated sigh she leaned back and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“So,” sounded Draco’s excited voice directly to her left, almost making her still visibly, “what do you think Potter told the snake? I bet it was something stupid, did you see his look when it just curled up?”

Opening her eyes to look at her housemate with weary eyes, Riko couldn’t stop another sigh. “‘Leave him alone’ or something like that, I’d expect,” she glibly stated in a bored, even voice.

Her friends knew about her mahouki, but she wasn’t keen to clue in the rest of Hogwart’s population, including her housemates. Not only would she never again be able to listen in plain view to people who liked to talk in different languages, with her luck, nobody would believe she wasn’t a Parselmouth _and_ the damn heir to boot, what with her being a Slytherin and the Slyver family being well-known as ancient pure-blood nutters. Riko rather wanted to avoid all the trouble that would bring, thank you very much, as it would do absolutely no good, instead making it that much harder, perhaps even impossible, to find out what was really going on. And she was a false lead, too, which would play right into the actual perpetrator’s hands. 

“If that really was Parseltongue, which seems clear enough, the snake will do as he told it. It backed off, hence he told it to,” she sighed again, because that should really have been obvious. “Well, at least there’s a decent chance everyone is now convinced he’s the heir, so they can stop treating _us_ like we’re the heir.”

“But.. but then.. where’s the fun in that? And how do you even know that’s how it works? You’re taking this very calmly, Riko, and you _have_ been reading quite a lot of suspicious books this year, haven’t you?” drawled Draco with a gleeful grin after his first dismay at her lack of excitement.

Riko almost rolled her eyes but only threw him a flat look with a raised eyebrow. “I think you know where I stand on the subject, right?”

Draco had the grace to look at least a little sheepish at that and she continued very matter-of-factly. 

“And yes, I’ve been reading on Slytherin and his chamber, and from what I’ve read on Parselmouths so far, that’s the conclusion. It’s pretty obvious anyway, and besides, this is Potter we’re talking about. One of his best friends is muggleborn, and even he wouldn’t attack a Hufflepuff of all people in front of a crowd. And did you see his look? Completely clueless, like he didn’t know what the hell was up..”

Draco fell back into the chair with a sigh, grumbling. Riko had already overheard most of his rant on how it was just impossible and all wrong that Potter of all people, the bloody golden Gryffindor hero boy who lived, should get the talent that Salazar Slytherin had been so famous for that his crest was that of a great serpent and how disgusting it was that now their great heritage was being besmirched by that git and so on and so forth.

“I just don’t understand how he can actually be a Parselmouth,” he complained for probably the hundredth time now.

Riko sighed again but at least managed to not roll her eyes. Just typical, always going on about superiority of the bloodlines but no real clue on the whole mechanisms. A small version of Vi was rolling her eyes in the back of her head and she almost laughed again, reminded of their fun at the whole breeding fixation.  Also, even if she was probably going to sound like Amy on a track to complete swottishness, this was a fantastic chance to properly educate her housemate on the mistakes in his uninformed views of blood-superiority. Riko gleefully kept her voice dry as dust, only just a step from sounding like Binns, she hoped.

“Well, it’s rather obvious, isn’t it? By his mother who brought out the long-dormant potential which must have been introduced or perhaps spontaneously formed in the Potters at some time. Stop looking at me like a pufferfish, that’s how these things work, just look it up, talents are often only active or even transferable by the witches because X has more space than Y, I’m living proof of that, even if there’s loads more difference in chromosomes and alleles, and then there is all that reactivation stuff..”

“This utterly sucks and you are boring and absolutely no fun,” he whined, pouting like little kid.

He flopped dramatically forward on the table, waving her explanations off like they were pesky flies. Riko really did roll her eyes at that, and also huff, because what did he even want, then? 

“Fine! You want exciting, let’s go! T’was a dark and stormy night, Hallowe’en of ’81, when destiny wanted to have some fun and drama. It led the up-and-coming dark lord Voldemort to the home of the Potters. He’d come to make himself invincible, but hark! T’was really a trap! The baby took one look at him and took a great big bite out of his spirit as he tried to kill it, wounding him terribly and stealing his powers. Now Voldemort, being such a distinguished dark lord, of course didn’t die and he swore revenge, which is why he sneaked into the school last year in Quirrel’s head. But lo! Potter remaineth that much more powerful, having taken Voldemort’s power after all, and survived, and now he’ll take his own revenge on all of Hogwarts until nothing is left but cold empty ruins with a great big spirit-digesting Potter curled up in the deepest, most secret dungeon of this accursed castle, from whence he will rise to bring ruin to the entire world after siphoning off the ley lines crossing under us, because bla born evil and da-da-darkness and deedeldee-destiny..”

Having run clean out of bullshit at last, Riko waved absently with a hand, as if it should be completely obvious what she was talking about. She’d let her voice match the overly dramatic, if completely ridiculous, story and expected to see a few tired smiles and rolled eyes.

Instead not only Draco but also a few of her yearmates and a number of first-years were staring at her with wide eyes, some very clearly frightened, others less obviously so, yet other more generally dismayed. There was also a lot of gaping going on and a hush had fallen around her.

“What.. what sort of bullshit is this, are you completely out of your mind? ” demanded Draco, almost faintly and quite uncharitably pale.

Riko wanted to tear her hair out in frustration. This had to be how Amy felt when she was being the only sane one, only around her two maned companions of course, as the Untouchables were after all always sane, by any definition that held water. 

“Am _I_ ..? Oh, y’know what, fuck _off_ , no reason to insult my bullshit, sheesh! You ask my opinion, I give you reasonable, logical arguments and you complain. You ask for exciting and ridiculous bullshit, I do my very best with what’s available, and you still complain. Make up your own crap then, why don’t you?” 

There were a few moments of tense silence. Riko had worked hard to be droll and dry, to keep at ease and her voice only exasperated, hoping to somehow yet drag the scene into the ridiculous, where it _clearly belonged_ , but did it work? Damn it all, why couldn’t she just keep her mouth shut, for once?

“Oh, relax, Riko dear, you know how Malfoys are, just impossible to please,” Tony smirked tolerantly at her, then notably sharper at Draco before turning away from him. “I thought it was marvellous bullshit, especially considering what you had to work with,” she concluded and, _blessedly,_ decided to help. “You know, I heard some stories about how in the olden days there were often witches with odd and outrageous powers which never cropped up in wizards, but many of them died out because they attracted so much attention from the muggles and all that..” 

In that moment, Riko could’ve hugged her roommate, seriously, but she graciously refrained, shooting her instead a warm smile and they continued on the new subject. Soon the gawkers had drifted away, obviously bored by the start of a reasonable and informed conversation. Riko hoped it had done some good, but she knew there were bound to be a few idiotic enough to actually take the story up and spread it round, if just for the fun of it. Shite, Amy was going to be so mad.

Blaise, Farrah, and the Sorrentino drifted over then and joined with different stories about legendary witches, sometimes called strega, sometimes sihrmi or other titles. It was interesting enough to really discuss some of the things she’d been looking up about inheritance of powers that Riko didn’t even notice Theo’s return before he flopped tiredly into a chair near but not directly beside them, drawing a book out of his bag. She excused herself then, to go over and ask him how it had gone. They went over his final list of revision points and Riko had to use less badgering than yesterday to get him to agree to sleep now. It was delayed by Professor Snape’s entrance and his cool, controlled analysis of the situation, which clearly included their house and it’s members, although Riko doubted her housemates were entirely aware of the last aspect. But, well, at least half were aware, so that was alright enough.

As usual, his calm, sharp manner left the lair managed and as close to sane as it ever got. Excellent. Riko made herself officially ready for bed, curled up with her current stack of books and waited until everyone had fallen asleep. Then she met with her friends and it was just another night of the Untouchables finding nothing. Since it was about the umpteenth time of going over the first floor, they decided to call it cleared for now. But where to check next? Probably the dungeons but they’d had a really hard time finding anything at all on them, with it almost all in the restricted section, and they couldn’t very well take those books out, after all. Still, there was nothing to do about it, they’d just have to spend their nights there, and of course visit often and secretly throughout the winter holidays. With this agreed, they retreated to their beds to catch at least a few hours of sleep.

Riko and Edie did of course not sleep in, although they had as usual their first period free. Instead they met in their agreed spot, hidden deep in the labyrinthine canyons of bookshelves, deep within one of the less often visited corners of the library. They were a little surprised but pleased when Vi joined them, the last Herbology lesson of the term having been cancelled. They had the mean Blizzard raging outside to thank for it, which made Riko all the more glad to be inside, thank you very much. Vi said Professor Sprout would be fitting socks and gloves on the little Mandrake plants and thought it too difficult for her students and Riko agreed heartily to this sentiment as well. It was a little odd that Amy didn’t show up, she knew where they’d meet, but then, she had one of the few non-restricted books that held info on the dungeons taken out, so she was probably reading through that. Or maybe she was again busy keeping her two Gryffindors alive, Riko wouldn’t be surprised.

“Alright then, let’s go,” sighed Riko after a while, looking at the dusty, ancient-looking sundial on the wall above the window around which they’d clustered.

The window itself didn’t let in much light, what with the blizzard outside, but there was a little sun charmed over the clock that made not only sure the time was shown correctly, it also gave off a warm glow good enough for reading. Riko liked the find of this convenience a lot, almost enough to glad it had become a habit to check for any clocks in her vicinity about a week after she’d told McGonagall about her watch being dead - right after, in a clear case of Amy-explained, Murphy-class karma her watch had actually died on her. Probably the battery again, though it really should’ve held up longer, she’d put in a fresh one in the summer, after all. It was probably to do with the way tech tended to fail here in Hogwarts, or generally in the presence of most habitually magical places, and Riko _was_ going to have a good look into the mechanics of it; Amy would be all over it, and Vi and Edie easily curious enough to be right brilliant in bringing the research along - as soon as they had this stupid heir-monster-petrification thing cleared up.

For now, they carefully slotted the books they’d been pouring over back into their places and sneaked back into the public part of the library. It was quite a walk, the library was so incredibly big and non-euclydical that Riko doubted even Madam Pince knew all it’s secrets. So far they’d found, without even explicitly searching, two little pocketed rooms, long forgotten studies filed with yet more shelves and stacks of books. Books distorted space and time alright, even if they still hadn’t managed to access library-space. They separated at the exit with relaxed waves, Vi and Edie heading for the narrow, escher-esque stairway that connected to a revolving column in the dungeons near the kitchen.

Up here you just had to whisper a limerick, any kind really, to the kettle in a still-life of various foodstuffs stacked on the desk of a study. It would reply with its own little verse and turn into a hidden little niche-and-door that led to the cute escher-esque stairs. The hidden column-exit in the dungeons had been discovered first, due to the little engraved tea-cups dancing on it’s base. They delighted in whispering rude songs in a very odd sort of chorus while on the capital some books were excitedly chasing what looked a mix of a spoon and a quill. It had taken a while until they learned the trick of the kettle, the cups had been far easier. They let you in if you gave them a solid beat for their song, as they always got mixed up if left to their own devices.

Mentally going over ways to maybe check more columns for odd engravings or other decorations, Riko bent her mind just so and stepped into the dark, unused corridor in the first floor, just a few corners and one shortcut of a hidden connecting corridor away from Transfigs. Usually it was on the fifth floor, but all week now it had been down here and she really didn’t fancy being late, not right before the holidays. McGonagall had made clear enough she’d only been so lenient because it had actually been Riko’s first time being late, after that full moon. From now, it’d be no holds barred. Which meant that, even though she still had ample time left, Riko wasn’t exactly happy when she was barrelled over by a small form shooting out of a small side-stair leading to the second floor. Mind, after the first moments of “what the bloody hell?” this was quickly pushed from her mind.

As she sat up, Riko saw her would-be attacker was the shivering, feebly moving form of Ginny Weasley, who seemed to weak to even sit up. The girl’s breathing was very quick and shallow, panicky almost, and when Riko carefully moved to help her sit up, the girl’s hands were ice cold and trembling. Her pulse was so fast it was close to fluttering, which just couldn’t be right, seriously.

“Hey there, hey there, shhh, ’s alright..” Riko murmured softly, uncomfortably aware she had no clue if anything was alright for Ginny.

Well, nothing had come after the girl, and a first, instinctive ninja-sonar had shown nothing at all in the vicinity, but then, with potential discorporeal horrors about that didn’t have to mean a lot. Then the young Gryffindor at last raised her head, and Riko grew seriously worried. The girl had dark circles under her wide hazel eyes and was horribly pale, her lips barely visible in the bad light so faint and bloodlessly blue were they. She looked to have some kind of shock, maybe, from a bad prank? Part of her growled and decided that _if_ this was a prank, things would soon be going _quite_ awry for whoever was behind it, then her worry increased when the girl huddled down, as if sitting up had been a very bad idea, clutching her arms around her rump and obviously trying hard to regulate her breathing.

“Alright, alright.. shh, just breathe, right, in.. out..” Riko’s other pings hadn’t shown anything, either, so she could obviously take care of this girl. If there were something extraordinary going on upstairs she’d probably hear it down the stairs. There had been tears in Ginny’s eyes, but they weren’t falling, she was just staring unseeingly ahead, as if only half-aware. A bad allergy or a weak hex, maybe? She was starting to breathe better, at least.

“There, see, much better already,” Riko continued, glad for the small improvement but less so with the girl’s continued silence and general state. “Now, we just make a small visit to Madam P and..”

They had stood, slowly and with Riko’s arm around the smaller girl, holding her up, and now almost fell over again as Ginny lurched, shaking her head wildly. “Hhh, no.. no, please..”

Her shivering increased again and her breathing and pulse were again moving towards full-out panic. It baffled Riko, who couldn’t come up with a single reason of ever being afraid to visit the friendly if brusque mediwitch, but she recalled how tense and angry Ginny had seemed back then in the hospital wing. Perhaps she just had a thing against hospitals or healers and regardless of the reason, if she had to help the girl get better now, the hospital wing was obviously not going to do the trick.

“Alright, no hospital wing already, shhh, there ya go, just relax, come on, we were making such progress here,” Riko held them up with some difficulty and was glad when Ginny calmed down a little.

Unfortunately, the girl was now back to being completely silent, overly controlled breathing and staring unseeingly ahead. And still cold and shivering. Right. The solution was obvious, Riko could’ve slapped herself for being so slow. As she was leading the girl, who seemed to be recovering slowly already, Riko schooled her voice to remain casual, not wanting to crowd or otherwise harass her hm, charge? Patient? Fellow explorer sounded acceptable, for purpose of not making a drama of this.

“So good to meet you, haven’t seen head or tail of you in weeks, and here I have something I really want to show you, just the thing, really. Mind, I’d appreciate if you could return the oath of confidence I gave you, that’d be nice, ’s bound to make you feel better, I can give you my word on that, only fair, since I know you don’t want me to save any aunts..”

Ginny gave a hollow, faint snort at that and mumbled, “Sure, only fair. Not like I got anyone to tell it, but I give you my word, I’ll take it to the grave..”

She sounded very weary and her voice was hoarse, as if her throat hurt. Well, not for long, now. Keeping up a train of chatter, Riko guided them down a small three-storey stairway to the dungeons and right to the big still-life of the bowl of fruit and started tickling the pear. After a few moments it started to giggle and then squealed and turned into a door handle. Luckily, it was still a good few minutes from the end of the first period, and the corridor completely deserted as she carefully pulled the door open and ushered a shaky Ginny in. As it closed behind them, her companion’s mouth fell open and she gaped for a rather entertaining moment at the great, cavernous room. Understandably so, Riko herself had been very impressed by the sheer size of the kitchen when she’d first entered it last year. It was easily as big as the Great Hall above it.

It was also, at least to Riko, far more cosy and inviting, with the warm light of the fireplaces glinting on all the bright pots and bowls, the strings of greens and herbs, the racks of spices, the preparation tables, the sacks and baskets and crates of various foodstuffs and the warm and undefinable yet undeniably good smells wafting around. An even better reason to love the kitchen, and Riko really did, was, well, the lack of students, yes, but really it was the ever-glad-to-help house elves that could be found here no matter what hour.

“Hullo there, Denbigh,” Riko greeted warmly, “do you know if Finny is around? I wouldn’t want to make any trouble..”

“Oh, not to worry, Riko friend, yous is never any trouble.. for us down here,” the young house elf smiled up at her, his big grey-blue eyes crinkling with laughter at the last words. Riko could only answer with a sheepish smile, ducking her head a little.

“Er, ta, that’s very nice of you to say.. see, my friend here, Ginny,” she nodded at the girl still leaning against her, “she was feeling badly, so I thought she could sit and rest here a little by the fire.. and perhaps have some tea, ’cause her throats is a bit raw.. oh, thank you very much..”

Riko hadn’t even finished when Denbigh started drawing them to one of the fireplaces and bowing them seated on one of the small benches. Only moments later they had mugs of steaming, fragrant tea in hand, filled from a massive kettle standing off the side on a stove. A small tray materialized from thin air as he snipped with his fingers, loaded with honey, milk, slices of lemon, and assorted biscuits. Denbigh hustled away only after a worried look at Ginny’s shivering and conjuring a soft, woolly blanket with another snip of his fingers. He was obviously already helping prepare lunch, and while she helped Ginny settle the blanket around her, Riko caught sight of Finny, who was giving her a serious look but then nodded with a tolerant smile.

Finny was responsible for the kitchen and also coordinated the groups of elves that oversaw the other areas, such as keeping the different parts of the school clean or doing the student’s laundry. She was a very busy elf and unlike other elves she had a certain no-nonsense manner, keeping her head in most any situation, instead of falling wildly over herself to just do whatever you might possibly like. Riko was glad for that, really, as it was always hard to deter the other elves from going completely overboard when she only asked for a little food to take to her friends. Yes, Finny had the same habit of creatively adding whatever she thought they should eat to grow well and all of that, but she was more reasonable by far, as demonstrated by her keeping a tolerant distance right now.

Meanwhile, Ginny had wrapped her hands around her mug like it was the only thing keeping her alive, but she was also relaxing, stretching her feet so they were closer to the fire. When she at last loosened one hand to add honey and lemon to her tea, after deeply inhaling the steam rising from it, Riko was glad to see it. She sipped her own tea then and noted it was the usual spiced tea and Denbigh had somehow already added the amount of milk and honey she usually liked with it. They carefully sipped the hot tea in silence for a while, the only sounds those of the house-elves behind them and occasionally one of them blowing on their tea. They were nominally staring into the fire, but when they after a while met each other’s gaze while looking over from the corners of their eyes, they again shared a small smirk.

“Huh, better than huddling behind Elfrida Clagg, even if it’s not much different otherwise, eh?” remarked Riko lightly, encouraged by the signs of Ginny’s recovery.

Even that, however, had Ginny retreat to staring into the flames again, a wild blush covering her face. At least her colour had improved already, so it didn’t make her look as ill as it had in Lockhart’s office on Hallowe’en, her pallor and stark freckles almost nearing what could be called normal, with the seasonal lack of sunlight.

“Mmhmm,” Ginny deflected, “So you’re already well-known down here, eh?”

Riko chuckled softly at the defensive manners of answering even the lightest invitation to talk with a question. But then, the girl was still looking rather winded, it really was a good thing the holidays were only a few days away. Relaxing would do her good, and might improve her outlook, too.

“Yeah, they see us often enough, practically since the start of our first year,” she replied easily. The girl had after all agreed to take her secret to the grave and she didn’t think Ginny a tell-tale anyway. They sat in a more comfortable silence for a few moments, then Riko decided to prod a little again. It couldn’t hurt, certainly, to find out what had the girl in such a state. “So, you mentioned you didn’t have anyone to tell, that’s too bad. The biscuits are really good, by the way, and might help?”

Ginny shot her an incredulous look at that and Riko answered with a sheepish smile and shrug. Loki’s nets, she almost sounded like the headmaster last year while he was talking to Snape about her recovery, next she’d go on about currant of all freaking things. But, well, it worked, obviously a Gryffindor-wired trick, then. With a huff of amusement, Ginny looked over the biscuits with much concentration, at last selecting one and nibbling it while she stared into the dancing flames again.

“We.. I sort of had a row with Luna,” she sighed at length, “and the others in my house, well, I’m well known to be no fun to be around, always either hung up on Harry Potter or mopey and miserable..” It was said quietly but with much anger and even some disgust, directed obviously at herself.

Riko drew her brows in thought, watching closely as the girl stubbornly stared into the fire, face closed and body already tensing up again. Riko gave a small sigh and raised one eyebrow at the girl, keeping her voice dry but still friendly. “Way too obvious, Ginny, seriously,” she shot her a small smirk at the wary look she received from the little Gryffindor. “You’re feeling miserable because you had a row with your friend, alright, s’fair enough, but don’t try and use me to kick you just because you can’t stand yourself for having the fight in the first place.”

“What.. I.. no, sorry, I just..” stuttered Ginny, her eyes going from wide and surprised to real self-loathing and misery.

Riko sighed again, lightly poking her in the arm. “Hey, relax, fair try, but I told you, we Slytherins have a handbook on being sharp bastards, alright? And we were just having tea,” she gave a small wink, “I know it’s not about your aunt, but I’d still rather have tea than have you Potter me just so I get hacked off and rag on you. Now, I said it before, you don’t have to tell me shit, but if you do, please be up front? I hear it’s roaring mane tradition and all that, eh?”

Riko picked through the biscuits then to give Ginny a little time to catch herself, and when she looked up again she saw the girl watching her with a strange, worried expression. Answering with a questioning, light-hearted look and a smile, Riko leaned back to nibble on her treat and look back into the fire. She heard Ginny take a deep breath and looked over.

“It’s all my fault and I just don’t know what to do about it and I feel so utterly stupid,” whispered the girl, looking down into her half-filled mug as if it held all the answers if only she stared hard enough. “See, Luna, she’s really smart, but she’s a bit odd, too. I’m not even sure if it’s just an act she made up so she could say whatever she wants or if that’s just how she really sees everything. She’s always going on about imaginary animals with the oddest names, but I think it’s just her way of saying that a person is being boring or mean or happy or well, you know. It’s of course good fun during Binns or in Astronomy, but when she starts talking to you about how you have an infestation of hues in your hair and carry about way to many pettarings in the folds of your robes, then it gets old real fast.

I mean, can’t she just say what she means? Merlin’s arse, that’s not asking too much, is it? I mean, except if that’s really just how she is, and I think that’s actually it, but I thought she was making fun of me and I got just so mad at her when she started up with it again when we were just trying to finish Potions homework in time, and I sort of exploded and I.. I was really.. it was just bad. And now I can’t even talk to her or look at her without feeling bad, but I just don’t know what to tell her because she’ll just start up again about how I just had too many jiggerypokeys or something on me, and I don’t even know what she _means_ because she’s using different names with me, and I just don’t know what I should do..”

Riko waited a moment after Ginny trailed off, but the girl was busy biting her lips, not having looked up from her mug even once.

“Ah, alright,” Riko started, just to make clear she was going to try and be helpful. “Hm, I think it I get what you mean, I had a, well, at least similar problem once..” she paused, drawing some hair behind her ear and thinking how best to translate and transmogrify, Amy-style. “It’s hard to apologize when you think the other has completely different views and ideas than you, right? Because you think, what if they don’t even want my apology, that’s really the root of it,” Riko thought this odd, but it sounded Amy enough to work. “So, in this case you’re not sure Luna will want your apology because you’re apologizing for something else than what she wants or thinks, right?”

Ginny gave a small nod and Riko nodded, too, continuing with more confidence.

“So the point here is that you apologize not _for_ whatever, you apologize _to_ the person. I mean, I don’t know but apparently you two are rather different, right? But you’re friends, so obviously those differences are not a problem, it’s just how you are. So instead of trying to apologize for not being like her, keep in mind that you apologize to her because you want her to be alright again and know you appreciate her.” Riko waved her hand vaguely, face heating, not quite sure what else to say. She wasn’t going to make an example of the matter with Draco, it had been entirely different, after all, and besides a private matter between her and her housemate. And she didn’t really know how exactly Ginny was friends with this Luna girl.

“Oh,” said Ginny and nodded slowly, making Riko feel warm with relief. It seemed she had made some sense, at least.

Then, because apparently the world hated seeing Riko relieved, she heard the heavy darkwood door that was their side of the big still-life at the entry creak open and two voices talking, entering the kitchen. The kitchen that was, as Professor Snape had so kindly informed her last year, not exactly an allowed area for students. Adrenaline spiked at the thought of being found here, and drawing Ginny into the mess too, and Riko fell into quicktime without even realizing it first. After the initial shock, it was glaringly obvious what had to be done. Luckily, the opening door gave them some good cover for now, so Riko had the time to shake out her wand and wave it in a small wriggle while actually drawing up an Obscurantis around them.

She’d just congratulated herself, falling back into normal time and holding her wand to her lips to show Ginny to be silent, when she realized just whose voices she was hearing. Riko bit her lip to stifle a groan or a curse, this was very close to the worst case scenario. It was the headmaster and Professor Snape. At least McGonagall wasn’t along, too, or Filch. Frantic to do at least _some_ damage control, she hurriedly looked over Ginny. The girl was looking quite normal again, still exhausted of course, but she didn’t look ill any more and had stopped shivering. Touching her wand to the blanket, Riko mouthed a shrinking charm and made sure the hanky-sized blanket fell under their bench. If they had to be discovered now, at least Ginny wouldn’t have to worry about getting dragged to the hospital wing.

Indeed, just as she’d finished the spell, Dumbledore looked in their direction, as if he had noticed a spell being cast. He nodded absently to something Professor Snape was saying about Potter and fixed his eyes on first Riko, then Ginny, then back to Riko. Then he looked back to Professor Snape with a rather absent-minded smile.

Meanwhile, Finny had approached the two new arrivals in her usual business-like manner and wasted no time in conjuring a mug of coffee, black, thank you and the usual, please, my dearest Finny, which turned out to be a great big purple mug with golden stars on it.

“Ah, thank you, Finny, really, I wouldn’t know how to get through those cold days without the help of those little marshmallows, simply marvellous, Severus, you really should try them sometime..”

Professor Snape’s response was delivered in a hilarious blend of exasperation and tolerant patience. “No thank you, Albus, haven’t we been over this already, a few hundred times? My lesson starts soon, so if you have nothing else you want me to not do about Potter..”

The headmaster sighed softly at that, “Now now, Severus, being a Parselmouth is no crime, and you said you made sure yourself if he was really, how did you put it..”

“As clueless as the club of a troll, and yes, he was, but that doesn’t change a thing about the implications, for all we know he could be split in two, it would explain his lack of brains for one, or..”

While Professor Snape talked, the headmaster had again looked at them, and Riko had hastily put a calming hand on her companion’s forearm to keep her still. Ginny had frozen, quickly catching on they were supposed to be invisible and silent and she’d kept at it very well, even with the way the headmaster had spotted them. But now she was setting her jaw just so and Riko knew from experience with Amy that she was in danger of having an explosion of righteous temper beside her. Given their situation, this would blow their last chance to escape unscathed. Ginny gave her a tense look and Riko was glad to see her grind her teeth as she realized their situation, too.

It was a testament to how bad Riko considered their situation that she was actually glad when the door creaked open again and her relief didn’t lessen over the fact that it was bloody McGonagall. For one, it made Ginny draw back. It also interrupted Professor Snape and she seemed in a hurry, too.

“Ah, Minerva, how nice..”

“Not now, Albus, you are needed in your office, and I need to get to my own class in time,” the deputy headmistress interrupted the headmaster in a crisp voice that brooked no argument, striding over to them. Then she leaned over and continued with some quiet explanation they couldn’t hear properly, never mind understand.

The effects, however, were immediate and let Riko exchange another look of worry mixed with relief with Ginny. Moments later they were alone again. Well, except for all the house-elves, of course, but they were supposed to be here, after all. Then, Riko was just sighing with relief at their clean escape, a thought struck her. She jumped up with a gasp and a curse, looking wildly at the clock on the mantle.

“Bloody fuck on time, oh no, by all the spirits.. Ginny..” she looked back at the girl who was still sitting there and giving her a look of confusion which after a moment widened to one of understanding. Riko bit her lips, trying to remember how long it was since McGonagall left.

“Go on, I’ll be fine and keep quiet, just as promised,” said Ginny very quickly, waving her hand in the direction of the door. “Better make sure you make it, you won’t get off as easy again..” the little Gryffindor called after her as Riko dashed for the door, wrenching it open without even checking if the coast was clear.


	14. True Glory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glory is a fickle, temperamentual thing, isn´t it, as is luck, and as much as the Untouchables have been working this problem, they have run into very little so far, be it progress or problems. No wonder that would change at some point, really..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, apologies to whoever even reads this for the lag in updates. I’d say it should go smoother now, I mean, nothing seems to speak against that, but I did that before, and look how it turned out. So, just, whoever you are, reading this, I hope it is somewhat enjoyable, and if anyone ever wants to poke in with a comment: you are welcome, even if it is unrelated to the story and "only" world-buildy stuff or whatevs =)

Riko made it in time just so, stumbling into corporeality in a niche of the corridor mere seconds before McGonagall rounded the corner to let them into the chilly, drafty Transfigs classroom. She’d gone most of the way as a two-dimensional absence of light, it really was the fastest way to cover direct, earthbound distance, and the shadows in the castle were stable ground.. but as a result of it all she now felt like mush pressed into a thin skin of paper. Impatient mush, at that, because clearly something had happened again and she had no clue what. Potter wasn’t there, so it clearly was about him, whatever had happened, but Amy professed no knowledge about his absence. Well, not that they could really talk much or write notes, hardly even sign, with how stern and sharp McGonagall was today, even more’n usual, but at least that much was clear: Amy didn’t know more about the situation, either.

Over lunch Riko grimly cursed all the fates and spirits over the fact that it just had to be Wednesday today, and thus a house day, and nobody on her table seemed yet privy to what exactly had happened earlier. There were the wildest rumours flying around of course, a number of them actually citing Peeves as source, which really said it all. Especially because _of course_ it was again all about Potter being the heir. Argh.

There was lots of talking going on at the Hufflepuff table and Vi looked patently murderous, so clearly there was some story there. Also, Potter was back, she could see him sitting all coiled up and withdrawn, flanked by Amy and Ronald, heads together and with lots of distance to all the other Gryffindors, which meant it really had to be some story. Well, Riko hadn’t noticed any big changes regarding the house points when she’d walked through the Entrance Hall, so at least it couldn’t be that again.

By dinner the entire school knew some version or other of how Harry Potter was clearly the heir of Slytherin and had made yesterday’s threat or whatever true by petrifying Justin Finch-Fletchly and, for some reason and despite it being patently _impossible_ , also Completely Headless Nick. Well, the spirit wasn’t really stone, but he was from Amy’s second-hand description just as affected as the other victims. Perhaps he was ghostly stone, like the drapes at his party had been ghostly drapes and really, what did it even matter. There had been another attack, and it had shown the monster could and would attack even ghosts. Peeves kept popping up in the Entrance Hall or the main corridors, gleefully cartwheeling and caterwauling the few broken lines he seemed determined to have made this year’s Number One Hogwarts Hit.

It went “Oh Potter, you rotter, oh what have you done? - You’re killing off students, you think it’s good fun,” repeated over and over again. Even Riko, who was usually rather tolerant of the poltergeist’s mischief, was heartily sick of it after the fist few times and it wasn’t even because of the actual, bloody fucking, well, damage he did, to the meagre sanity of the general studentry. Amy was stressed enough already, Potter constantly being treated like a terrible monster didn’t help, fuck’s sake. At least the Weasley Twins were treating it as the joke it was, pretending to be turned main minions for their ‘seriously evil wizard’, clearing his way and shielding him from the general populace’s muttering, pointing and hissing. That shit got old real fast if it was aimed at you, Riko knew, and Potter couldn’t even obscure himself. And if he really was split, as Professor Snape had said, both to Dumbledore and in his address to the current situation in the lair, what then..?

The one upside was how it pissed off Draco like mad. He soon developed a regular look, like he wanted to jump the next person and shake them, screaming about how “that damn Potter can’t be Slytherin’s heir, why are you all so stupid”. It was deeply satisfying to watch, at least one thing that could be used for some sorely needed cheer, even if Riko and her friends were still stuck and frustrated with their lack of success in solving this mess and also, of course, everyone’s utter idiocy. Well, you had to take your fun where you could get, clearly. Another good thing was that they, or at least those that weren’t staying, had already booked their tickets for the train on Saturday weeks ago. With all the bullshit theatrics going on, everyone who hadn’t yet, was now trying to get one and just go home. Mostly it was Nick’s fate that pushed people from normal frightened to utter panic, because if even the dead weren’t save from the monster, then what chance did they have?

The argument wasn’t completely without merit, alright, Riko could admit that, but the manic mob-mentality and wild panic was just stupid, and believing Potter was the one behind all this plain ludicrous. Bloody shite, it was something Amy, Draco, and Riko agreed on, that really should have said it all.

According to Amy, Potter had simply had the misfortune of finding the victims of the attack and been talking first to Macmillan in the library and then Hagrid at the time the attack must have occurred. The gamekeeper had rushed to Dumbledore’s office as soon as he heard Potter had been taken there and attested to it profusely. And to think that in a just few days they were supposed to leave their friend here with her two insane Gryffindor friends and some ominous monster for company. As one, they decided to completely ignore the half-year exams and focus on what really mattered. After all, only the grades at the end of the year counted anyway and who cared about grades if it was about your friends getting petrified. Not that Riko really counted Nick as a friend exactly, no more than Ginny, no matter how she’d introduced her for Denbigh’s benefit, but they were friendly at least, and anyway it was the clear and present danger of the same thing happening to any of the remaining students, which obviously included Amy.

They started the very first night after this second, or, if you insisted on counting Mrs Norris, third attack, and searched for any sort of clues or passages all over the second floor. That was, after all, where the two latest victims had been found, and wouldn’t it be typically Slytherin to have everyone think the chamber hidden in the dungeons while it was somewhere else entirely, and although the victims so far had been muggleborn they couldn’t exclude that it might be something else entirely either. It was exhausting, even with the energy potions they took in the evening and the Wideye potions they took before the classes they had deemed too dangerous to fall asleep in, which was really just Transfiguration and Potions.

By Friday they were growing frantic with worry, and perhaps a little from lack of rest, and decided that instead of checking the entire second floor again, of course starting from around the location of the attack, they should perhaps try to imagine a sphere around it and search that area. It wasn’t easy, of course, but it had to hold a higher chance of success, what with the monster being discorporeal. And now it was going on two by the last clock they had passed and they hadn’t made any headway at all. Admittedly, it was much harder to search without the benefit of having researched any and all sorts of hints, but still, this was just not acceptable! They were trudging, or rather, trudgedly sneaking along the fringe of said sphere as far as the third floor was concerned, when they heard quick steps coming their way.

The corridor was so narrow they wasted no time in crowding behind a large stone griffin, watching with bated breath until the steps and grumbling of Filch couldn’t be heard any more.

“Ye gods, what is he even doing up here, the nutter..” murmured Vi tiredly, leaning back against the wall of the rather wide alcove.

Riko was just about to make a smart comment when she caught something glinting near Vi’s head. She stared, excitement building in her guts.

“What?” Vi stood away from the wall and turned to take a look, too, but the glint had vanished.

“No, stop, Vi, do that again! Amy, Edie, look, d’you see..?”

As soon as Vi leaned back against the wall again, there was a small area were fine yellow lines glowed. When she turned her head to see it, too, it faded, but it also moved a little.. Oh! Of course! Riko took a deep breath and used her ninja ping. The wall against which Vi was leaning was like fuzzy lead. In itself that didn’t say much, lots of walls insisted on being contrary in this castle, but given the lines..

“Alright, alright, Vi, give me your hat for a minute, I won’t eat it.. huh, ’f course, see, what are we hiding behind? Yeah, s’right and awfully big, as alcoves go, right? Now, let’s see, if we sweep it like that.. yesss, here we go.. now inside the outline..”

For it clearly was an outline, the outline of a door with a round arc, rather simple in it’s design and the words Veritatem Aude written on it. That was all. There was no hint of a lock, no handle, no decoration, not even a knocker was visible and the lines always faded as soon as the griffin feather of Vi’s hat wasn’t close any more. It was exciting and delicious, of course, to have found this, just fantastic to have found _any_ thing at long last, but it left them at something of a loss. Clearly this was _supposed_ to be a door, but it insisted on being hardly visible at all, much less corporeal. _And_ it didn’t seem to have anything for Riko to try her usual tricks on in regards to opening doors. It was as if it was mocking them by always only showing a glimpse of existing at all and of course it wouldn’t let Amy through even in her ghostly phase-shift form. It actually zapped her, just bloody fantastic, really.

“It wants a password or phrase, of course,” reiterated Amy a while later.

“Yes, we all agree there, Amy, but what? I know we said there had to be a hint, but so far nothing has worked at all..”

“..which makes clear we’re going about it the wrong way,” Vi drily finished Edie’s sentence, sitting with her back against the wall.

The feather was back in her hat band and it illuminated the line around where the lock would’ve been if Gryffindor, for it could hardly be anyone else now could it, had been up to using or even grasping the idea of a bloody, thrice-damned lock. Riko grit her teeth and forced herself to take a deep breath and calm the fuck down.

“Alright, back to zero. This is a door. It wants a password or phrase. It says Veritatem Aude, aka dare the truth. It doesn’t react when you tell it any kind of truth. It doesn’t care for the school motto or any odd combination of chivalry or daring or truth or bravery or any other Gryffindorish stuff we’ve come up with so far, no matter if it’s Latin or English. So. Forgetting all of that, starting over again. We have a door. It says Dare the truth. What now? Let’s try to ignore meanings and just go with logic..”

“Well, it seems a very simple door. The arc looks Roman, not a classical straight transom and with the Latin letters..” Amy trailed off and Riko recognized her friend’s thinking-matters-through face.

“The griffin here is still faintly radiating stable magic, so I’d say it was conjured to hide the alcove entrance,” she offered, leaning against the statue.

“So this door was actually easily accessible, with the alcove making it easier to round the corner, but also better defensible cause its more space for def-wards..” added Vi.

“..which means it had to see a good number of visitors? But that it was also leading to something important..” continued Edie and they all shared a look of disgust at their own wild guessing and leaned back, trying to come up with anything that at least sounded vaguely logical from there.

“So it should be simple, right?” started Amy again, a slight tone of excitement worming into her tone, “and in Latin, it makes only sense. Oh, it could be like.. I read this book over the summer where it said _speak friend and enter_ and they guess for ages and ages what it could be and then it turns out it’s so simple they only have to say friend, like, of course there was no comma there, but I suppose they don’t have them in Elvish or it wouldn’t ’ve been so stylish, or well, anyway, try just taking it at face value! If that’s a Gryffin-door, har-har, it’s going to be straight-forward!”

“Right! Fantastic, Amy! Gods, we’re all thinking way to much. It’s a door that says Veritatem Aude, let’s just answer it!” Riko jumped up, excitement flooding her again and clearing her head.

It really was a good thing they had Amy along, otherwise they would’ve probably started coming up with all sorts of crazy theories instead of just taking it straight on. Pondering grimly on the stupid words (and they did annoy her on all sorts of different, uncomfortable levels, now that she had to actually treat them as real, spoken words), Riko drew back her shoulders and stepped up to where she knew the letters to be, taking Vi’s feather again and drawing it over them to light them up.

“Veritas,” she said evenly but with some uneasiness, holding the feather and her hand against the smooth stone where there were supposed to incisions for the letters.

Nothing happened, except perhaps the slightest, faintest tingling, which could as well be her imagination. Taking a deep breath again, Riko went over the stupid sentence, demand really, again and grit her teeth.

“Veritatem Audeo!” she pronounced with some vehemence, her guts knotting up with tension and something that felt uncomfortably like self-loathing at the words.

At first, again, nothing happened, but as the second word faded, she could feel a slight tremor with her fingers, then the lines of the words lighted up, impossibly bright and golden-white, and she could feel the groves of the letters materializing in what had turned into dark reddish wood. Riko stepped back with a gasp that was mirrored by her friends. It was an impressive sight, sure, but what really raised the fine hair on her neck was the loud ringing, like a heavy, deep-sounding bell, that seemed to radiate from the glowing letters as the door clicked open. It was a, hah, true, physical force and Riko had no illusions about the effect it would have on the weak, chalk-bound Scutum Strepiti just inside the alcove. Looking over, she saw that the chalk had vanished as if blown away from the sheer power in the sound. Even their Obscurantis was gone, vanished like mist in the sun!

They looked at each other with wide eyes for a moment, then the Untouchables sprang into action like one very quick, adrenaline-driven person. Edie pushed the door open further, carefully checking inside and making sure to cover her friends from anything that might jump out; Amy was guiding a floating piece of chalk over the arch to redraw the circle while Vi hurried to meet her with her own chalk-line on the ground; Riko drawing an Obscurantis, layering it in the chalk as soon as the Scutum Strepiti was finished.

Edie had whispered “Clear enough” after only a few moments, so as soon as Riko was finished, they all crowded through the door and pushed it shut behind them. They were in a smallish, round chamber, empty except for a spiral staircase. It’s steps were moving smoothly upwards, like an escalator. Feeling oddly reminded of the Mirror of Erised last year, Riko quickly stepped forward and onto the revolving stairs. It was all good and well that Edie was extra-tough, but Riko was still best with drawing up quick shields against heavier attacks and also at simply getting out of the way and distracting whatever was attacking, and besides, she’d triggered the door and she could heal herself much better than they could heal each other.

“You nutcase, wait up!” whispered Vi behind her and Riko could hear her friends hurry after her.

It made her feel better, helped bury the bad feeling that had burrowed into her guts after she’d spoken the password. When Amy visited them at the Latch, she’d tell them, she just needed an opportune moment, just one, damn it all, and Hogwarts seemed to insist on never giving her one. Taking a deep breath and letting it out again, Riko rolled her shoulders and forced her muscles to relax at least a little. She needed to be ready for anything. None of the hidden rooms they’d found so far had shown this kind of promise or secrecy. Sure, it wasn’t the chamber of Slytherin, what with the very unsubtle griffin-theme, but they’d still need to be on guard. Even if it really was Gryffindor’s old guardian or just his chambers, they were bound to find some sort of hint here.

As they rose upwards in circles, higher and higher, Riko worked to not grow dizzy and recall anything at all on the supposed champion of Gryffindor. Fierce and loud was what the theoretical, narrative kneazles of Graveworthy’s books had said, but even if he’d done a lot of research, he seemed to never have learned what it really was, and he at least had never claimed it was anything but a story, so what did that say? At last they reached a darkly-gleaming oak door with a brass knocker in the shape of a griffin. It was like everything else here eerily free of any sort of dust, a testament to the strength of hidden wards, and as they stepped off the stone staircase at the top, the door clicked open before they were even near enough to use the knocker.

Not creepy at all, remarked Riko drily inside her head and stepped forward, pushing against it with her foot. Her right fang was dangling loosely from the little finger on her right hand, only one quick flick from ready, just like her wand.

Obscurantis wrapped around them, they warily entered the great, circular room. They could see and hear the blizzard still raging outside through a great number of large windows straight ahead, occasionally rattling or letting in a small gust of cold air. The cold, weak ambient light left most of the room shrouded in dark and slowly flowing shadows. The light was coming not from the windows but from the wall.

There was a great painting, or really a fresco, a gigantic one at that, on the entire half of the room that wasn’t broken by windows. It showed the view from a grand bluff, overlooking miles and miles of sea and coastline and a clear starry sky, and it was magnificent and obviously magical. It had to be similar to the ceiling of the Great Hall as it clearly showed what went on at whatever place it was supposed to portray, the rolling waves and a little fishing boat chugging along in the distance, but it was also clearly painted, visible brush strokes and all. Even so you could almost hear the waves and howling wind.

“Whoa,” whispered Edie, and Riko could only agree.

With the currents of cold air whispering from the windows, looking at it was simply fantastic, like being alive inside a painting. The door they had entered through was set in what seemed another crag stretching up into the sky, only vaguely visible against the dark sky where it obviously blotted out a few stars.

Letting her eyes wander to the right to try and make out other crags or rocks that might hide more doors, Riko trailed carefully in the direction and drew a little power to her eyes. No way would she call up her full Demon Eyes, with the painting so obviously magical and her not experienced enough to properly dim or filter what she saw. She thought she saw a few promising points but she was interrupted.

First there was a lazy creaking and rustling from behind and suddenly the air was filled with a loud sort of humming, almost like a gong, the kind you’d feel in your guts rather than hear with your ears. The wave of resonance travelled through her and she felt the Obscurantis blow away like a veil of spider silk. Riko whirled to look in the direction, drawing up full Demon Eyes even as she moved - and was almost completely blinded as a result. And not from the painting, oh no.

A great, blindingly glowing, white-golden figure was lined out against a dark portion of wall that must have been left unpainted, for Riko could also see a steady, silvery glow from her right, where the painting was. The figure was slowly moving towards them, each step accented by ticks of what had to be, from the sound of it, really big, hard, sharp claws on stone.

The Untouchables had as one drawn together and tried to guard the closest other. Ironically, this meant Riko had stepped up to shield Vi, Vi had stepped forward to guard Riko, Edie had drawn forward to shield Amy and Amy had stepped up to guard Edie, and now they were all lined up like prime targets. Riko, who had let go of her Demon Eyes immediately, only barely stopped a string of vile curses as she realized this, gritting her teeth, fang held up in a classic guard position before her.

The sight was no less shocking with only her normal eyes. It was so _large_ , and not just in size, no, the sheer power radiating from it had her guts tie wildly in knots and her bones itch with static. The shoulders of the griffin, for it could be nothing else, crested at about seven feet, the body of a giant, feathered cat blending harmoniously into the head and wings of an eagle.

It stopped some five yards from them, looking them over with sharp, intelligent eyes that revealed a mind alien but wise and knowledgeable.

“You carry our favour, sable cub, freely given?”

Riko was almost pushed back a step from the magic rolling off it in waves, as if something in her very core was offering too much resistance to a strong wind. Vi, however, after a shocked blink straightened from her ready stance and offered a small bow, though it was the kind where your eyes never leave your target.

“Yes, m’Lady,” Vi replied evenly, and if Riko hadn’t known already that her friend had nerves of steel, no, that steel wished it was as tough as Vi’s nerves, this epic display of calm in the face of a living force of nature would have proven it beyond any doubt.

There was a momentary pause, then Vi added boldly, “though it was given to me by my companion here, so the honour of receiving such a favour really rests with her,” and gestured at Edie, who looked thoroughly shocked at the entire situation.

The griffin cocked her head at the words, her predator’s eyes glittering down discerningly at Edie for long moments and Riko couldn’t fault her friend for her nervous swallow even as the Ravenclaw stared back unflinchingly. Another bell-like sound rolled off the griffin then, and Riko had the association of a thoughtful “hmmm”, clearly her mahouki at work, as the griffin obviously had the ability to make them understand her words clearly if she meant to.

“Did you, then, receive it freely?” the griffin asked Edie, with much less warmth than when she had addressed Vi, sending a thrumming ripple of power after her own question, with an added, distasteful, “Secret-carrier,” as if it was a term of questionable character. Riko felt herself bristle at it.

“I did, m’Lady, when I helped my parents tend to some of your kind,” answered Edie, calm but with some hurt underlying her words.

A regal nod was all the reaction she got for it, then the bell-like voice encompassed them again. “Very well, sable cub and brass cub, what brings you here with mud and mist for companions?”

Riko grit her teeth at the insult, but hurried to put a hand on Vi’s arm, watching Amy do the same for Edie. The two honourable cubs of supposed sable and brass were usually very calm but known to react badly to perceived attacks on their friends.

“No arguing about personal tastes with griffins,” she remarked very lightly, “priorities, alright, Vi?”

Vi shot her a dirty look but relaxed her pose slightly and let go of a breath that might have otherwise cost them the chance to learn anything. Riko felt herself relax a little and shared a look of relief with Amy, though her friend looked right miserable, clearly taking the insult more to heart than Riko did. But Amy was in Gryffindor. To be regarded so lowly from her own guardian would sting, not to mention the wording. Fucks sake, what _was_ it with that damned mud-fixation here-abouts! And at Amy, when Riko knew to be wary of _manes_ in her wordings, knew how muggles were with skin colours, had a very good idea on why Draco’s insult had upset her friend so much, and it just _had_ to be _mud, again_!

“You are the guardian of Gryffindor, then? Fought in the battles against the dementors and all?” questioned Vi, obviously still put out at the griffin’s disregard of her friends and minding little the impatient tilting of the griffin’s head after her own question.

“You speak true,” rang the griffin’s proud answer around them, a distinct arrogance in her bearing now. “I am Gloria, companion of Godric Gryffindor. I guard this castle, it’s purpose, and those faithful to it.”

Riko’s heart gave a lurch at the words, because this was it, this was really it, the proof they weren’t just chasing silly, made-up stories. Vi’s eyes widened a little at the declaration, but she kept her head masterfully, giving only a courteous nod and sharing a look with Riko.

“My companions and I are here because there have been attacks on students and we are trying to find the cause,” Vi stated, perfectly polite but emphasizing the word companions just so. Riko shot her an impatient look and received only a lightly raised eyebrow as answer, as Vi continued to Gloria. “Two students have been petrified, and also the pet of the caretaker, and a crude implication points towards Slytherin’s guardian. Can you offer us help or insight in this matter?”

Vi’s eyes flew shortly towards her again and Riko realized the stress her friend was under, despite her masterful delivery of the formal words. Vi always preferred standing to the side, offering her views in dry comments; when she had to deal directly, up-front with her rotten cousins she was curt, sarcastic, and brutally honest and insightful in her insults.

Giving her a small nod and a light squeeze on her arm, Riko hoped her friend saw the complete confidence she had in her ability to see this through. The griffin tilted her head again, warily looking them over for a moment before answering.

“Salazar’s companion would not do such a thing, even if it were his way to turn his victims to stone. What help would you have me give? I fight in battles, I do not solve such petty mysteries.”

There was a moment of ringing silence following that statement, because, really, what the bloody hell?

“You mean to tell us that we’re talking to the wrong guardian, then, is that it? Could you please direct us to the correct one, then?” managed Vi at last, her voice still even and controlled, and Riko let go of the breath she’d been holding, giving her friend’s arm another grateful squeeze.

“Indeed, I never acted within the castle for I found it ever untenable to interact directly with its inhabitants, and it is far to tight and narrow a warren for me to enter,” stated Gloria, as if it was Vi who had been unreasonable in her words.

Smugly aware of their expectant gazes, the griffin stretched her pale wings and sat back on her haunches, looking down regally her beak and reminding Riko for a moment in the oddest way possible of McGonagall. “I can tell you naught about the way to the other guardian’s quarters for I never visited them uninvited or from within the castle, and I shall tell you naught about them for it is not your place to know.”

If there had been a ringing silence after Gloria’s first show of disinterest, the one now was dead and glacial. Riko could see Vi clench her teeth as she breathed in deeply and beyond her Edie and Amy were gaping at the so-called guardian in plain disbelief. And small wonder, Riko herself felt her blood boil up and barely managed to keep her temper in check.

“Then how,” ground out Vi, jaw clenched to keep her opinion in, “do you suppose we should go about resolving the matter? And why would you refuse to tell us about the other guardians when one of them is the one we need to get this matter sorted?”

Perhaps it was the tone of her voice or the way she looked at her or the way her stance had shifted, but something sparked a light in the eyes of Gloria as she looked at Vi, and it was not nice. Riko tensed, gripping her friend tighter and prepared for trouble of the worst kind.

“You are but cubs, t’is not yours to solve if it is something that endangers you and I would not give away my companion’s confidences to a handful of cubs, especially not to ones such as your companions. If it truly is a mystery of relevance, then Salazar’s friend will take it up and perhaps even visit me and tell me of it afterwards,” stated Gloria with a finality that rang in Riko’s bones and made her shiver.

Then the griffin tilted her head again, managing to look at the same time like a vexed falcon just rid of it’s cap and supremely spiteful. “If it is not, then have your secret-ridden company try their hand at it. One trails them like mud, she might stumble into the right puddle and drag it out and the other exudes them like foul mist, lingering and covering and expanding..”

Gloria’s eyes cut into Riko like knives as the griffin fixed her cold predator’s gaze on her, making it impossible to do more than raise her chin in defiance. What did that bird-brain know, anyway, thinking it a bad thing to have secrets, getting on Edie’s case like that without having any clue of the circumstances. The argument sounded weak even in her own head, and Riko felt for the first time in quite a while truly bad for not telling her friends everything, opportune moments be damned.

“Alright, y’know what? That does it, _m’lady_ ,” Vi’s voice cut in then, sarcasm and temper clearly in full swing. “That’s quite enough of you, thank you ever so much for no help at all! And I’ll have you know that my secret-ridden friends are not just company, they are family.”

Riko stared at her friend in shock. She knew Vi was always out to take care of them but she felt exploding at a griffin went a bit far. But clearly she had underestimated just how mad their Hufflepuff could get. Well, considering their totem was a badger perhaps she shouldn’t be surprised, they were legendary for never backing down.

“What you call mud is fiery chivalry and the daring to be true to different friends without compromise,” declared Vi in a tone of chillest anger and Riko could see Amy’s eyes grow round. “Your supposed foul mist is the wits and resolve to keep not only me but also my secrets and even my sanity safe and whole, no matter what, as well as those of the others.”

It was like a punch in the solar plexus and a sharp cold blade in her lung, to hear those words, leaving Riko derailed and miserable. Having taken a short breath, Vi squared back her shoulders and continued in a way that would’ve shamed many an orator, Riko was sure, complete with the exactly right gestures to make her points.

“If you call me sable then my friend here is true Or, not brass, how you can fault her for a secret to which she has no real alternative is beyond me, and I care not for your uninformed opinion. Indeed, I’ll have you know that what _you_ call favour was to me nothing but some pretty feathers before my partner here stuck one in my hat,” she gestured at Riko, and went on without breaking a breath. Amy and Edie were staring open-mouthed at their friend, clearly just as awed as Riko.

“.. and when she asked for one, not for herself but for a project that might surpass anything _you_ ever did in your stupid battles, I would’ve given her all of them. I think I shall, as I see no point in keeping anything _you_ call favour when your help consists of nothing but insults, at least I know my bright twin will make _some_ use of it!”

Vi took a deep breath, eyes sparking and fists balled at her sides, clearly ready to continue, but Riko placed her hand on her friends shoulder, the way Vi often did to calm her or hold her back from doing something overly crazy. “Vi, please calm down, holidays start tomorrow..”

She received a look of utter incredulity and confusion, but Vi was sufficiently derailed to fall silent. Now if they could extract themselves without getting mauled by the giant griffin in the room.. Riko risked a short glance to the two others, seeing that Edie was aware enough to catch Riko’s short glance towards the door and give a minute nod.

“Verily, cub of mist, supposed twin of the true sable one, what did you do then, to surpass my battles and steal such regard from your faithful companions, I wonder?” Gloria was eyeing Riko like something that just crawled out from under a stone and shouldn’t have. “Even more I wonder what use someone like _you_ might draw from even one of our feathers, not to mention any more.”

Now Riko was truly (hah) uneasy, seriously worried even, as they were clearly close to the edge of polite conversation here, and she didn’t care to learn what passed for impolite with this griffin. But at least she could try and distract it now, which was one of her best talents if she said so herself, and her friends, knowing full well her abilities of evasion and quick exits, could make for the door already, damnit, now, please!

Shooting one more urgent side-look at Edie, she turned to Gloria with a careless, sweeping bow, discreetly changing her fang to her left to free her right and stepping forward to give the others better cover.

“Small wonder, m’lady Gloria, guardian of house Gryffindor, that you should question this, and I shall of course answer as best I can. Though I’d ask for a small clarification first, y’see, being just a little cub of mist I’m a bit confused about, well, you,” Riko gestured easily to the griffin, shooting her a smile that might have qualified as Lockhart-grade and noting with satisfaction the way the creature fixed it’s predatory attention on her, much like Snape had on the Defence-teacher some days ago.

“What,” Gloria’s voice chimed fiercely, “would you find confusing about me? I am a griffin, guardian of Gryffindor. ’Tis clear enough.”

“Ah, yes, but there’s the thing already,” grinned Riko, silvery spikes of glee and entertainment dancing through her veins, “See, Gryffindor’s coat of arms, or mascot if you will, is a lion, not a griffin, so I was just wondering how that came to be, could you perhaps tell me that? It’s not about your companions, after all..”

“You are truly confused, cub of mist, to ask such a question or foolish to try and anger me with false words. The coat of arms of house Gryffindor is a griffin, naught else, and its base shield stems from one I well knew and fought valiantly to subdue so. Now answer what you did with the favour the sable one gave you and recount it’s purported legendary use. I expect it must have been a truly grand and heroic deed and inspired many tales to even rival my own.”

Riko gave a short laugh, because how could she not, the irony was just too much. “Truly”, she agreed with a wide, shit-eating grin, ready to throw so much bullshit at the griffin she wouldn’t know what hit her on account of being buried under it. “First I have to admit no tales of the feather or what it was used for will ever be told as it is one of the greatest secrets indeed. No more than seven people, for I ever liked the number, shall ever know of what happened, if I have my way.”

Gloria was by now swishing her tail in a way that would signal great trouble in any other cat and Riko carefully changed her grip on her fang, using the opportunity to check with a weak ninja-ping her friends’ progress. Almost clear. Falling into quicktime Riko kept her every sense on the agitated griffin who had just let loose another set of clamouring, wordlessly angry chimes.

“You mock me with your fluttering words, thinking yourself clever as you tie a cloak of secrets tight around you, not realizing how they bleed around you and infect everything,” Gloria spat, clearly on the very edge of her patience, “’tis a wonder you can speak at all around me, such secrets should make for silence or lies, and none can be uttered before me!”

She had risen to her paws again, circling in a manner that was positively lurking, as if ready to pounce. Riko readied herself, calm and in control in the eye of the mad storm she was conjuring up, the challenge making her blood sing.

“Oh, very well,” she shrugged as if utterly unimpressed when her heart was actually racing, “I used the feather to make a key. Not just any key of course, it was a key to trick not just one lock, the one that guarded the treasure we stole, but many, indeed I doubt there are very many locks that will be able to stand up to it.”

“You - you used a true and honest feather to steal a treasure,” chimed Gloria, antirely focussed on Riko, frame dangerously still, except for the wildly whipping tail.

A strange sort of calm came over Riko then, not her usual mission mode focus or anything even vaguely like it. It was just so nice to be able to say anything about it at all; after they’d sworn secrecy to each other she hadn’t even been able to properly regale uncle Kal with the tale. But it wasn’t just that, it was also the disparity of this ancient griffin who seemed so utterly unaware of so many things, even the nature of lies and what she was supposed to guard.

“Yeah, I did,” agreed Riko, giving a weary smile, suddenly feeling very tired of a lot of things, including this conversation. “No big deal, it’s the same if you want to build a house or a lie, you use materials that will hold, and what will do better than a core and skeleton of truth..”

She’d been ready for most anything, really, but with how physically distraught Gloria had seemed, Riko had guessed she’d most likely get pounced. Turned out she’d guessed wrong, and the worst part was how it limited her options. Gloria took a deep breath and then simply yelled a strange sort of absurdly powerful magic discharge at her, like the sound of a massive, angry bell compressed into a cone of pressure and air and power. And Riko had to block it, there was no other way. Behind her was the door and her friends and even if she’d been able to evade the blast, possible but not sure, she doubted strongly any normal shield-charms of them would hold up against it.

Even so, it was probably her fang that saved her from ending as an ugly smear on the wall. She’d drawn up some shapes and structures in the back of her head and trickled them down to the tips of her right-hand fingers, but when the attack came Riko’s shield was still not ready. Or rather it was simply not strong or smart enough, because she felt how most of the attack crashed against her magic like a furious gale and stayed out, even if it pushed her back physically. But something came through, slipped in, unfazed by the shield, slithered through her as only sound or magic could, vibrating in a completely dissonant manner that set her teeth on icy fire and let her see wild spots of light. Sharp pain raced through her outstretched right hand and forearm, only ebbing when it passed the line of her fang, raised in guard on pure instinct.

Riko stumbled backwards, gritting her hurting teeth, utterly dazed and disoriented. Then an unseen force hauled her backwards and she vaguely noted hot lights flare on either side of her, then someone grabbed her by the back of her jacket and she heard Edie yell “Gogogo!”

There was the sound and echoes of a heavy door banging shut, a strangely hazy rush down moving stairs, wildly mixing echoes of angry bells and images in her head she really didn’t care for. Someone touched her right arm, or her hand, she wasn’t sure but it hurt and Riko drew back with a sharp, instinctive hiss, looking up and around in confusion, blinking owlishly.

They were back in the small chamber on the foot of the stairs which had stopped moving. Edie was looking at her with worry clear in her face, Amy and Vi to either side mirroring her expression. Her hand and arm were stinging like mad, she still felt dizzy and she was sure every hair on her body was standing on end, painfully so.

“Riko? Are you alright? You want me to shine a light in your eyes?”

“What?” asked Riko, glad when Vi echoed her question.

“To check for concussion, of course,” explained Amy distractedly, clearly glad Riko had shown some reaction at last. “Can you move your arm? Or your hand? Or feel it? We tried to take a look but you drew back, do you remember that? Can you see straight? Does it hurt anywhere else?”

“Gods, please don’t ever become a healer, Amy,” groaned Riko her first confused thought, feeling distinctly overwhelmed.

Then she realized what she’d just said and automatically tried to raise her hah, unarmed hand in apology. It didn’t move, but it did hurt more.

“What?!” she croaked, starting to feel seriously distressed now. Hearing the same word from Amy and seeing the mix of confusion, uncertainty and some hurt, Riko hissed in a sharp breath.

“K’so! Ugh, no, Amy, I didn’t mean anything by it, I was just a little overwhelmed, sorry,” she pressed out, glad she could still make some sort of sense of some things at last, adding hastily, “and no, I can’t, move my hand or arm, that is..”

There was a blessed moment of silence and Riko leaned back tiredly, almost stumbling until she leaned safely against the wall. Closing her eyes she took a few deep breaths and then carefully slid down to sit and get a grip.

“I’ll just check it, relax already,” she explained, adding with a happy or perhaps slightly hysterical smile, “and thanks for grabbing me, tell me later, yeah?”

The huffs of familiar, incredulous amusement and the sounds of her friends settling down around her faded as she concentrated inwards, pushing against the woolly feeling behind her eyes that was making her slightly queasy. It was oddly difficult to grasp anything, but the problem with her arm was easy enough to discern.

“It’s broken,” she sighed, returning to reality rather than try to make sense of whatever else was still ringing through her like dissonant echoes.

“Can you heal it?” asked Vi, looking no less worried than before.

It made Riko feel doubly bad she had to shake her head, or perhaps triply, as she wasn’t at all pleased with the lurching of her vision it brought. “Ugh, sorry, nope, it’s all weird splinters and buzzing and stuff. And I’m way too dizzy to even try,” she gave a weak shrug, winced, and added, “doesn’t hurt as much as I’d ’ve thought, at least.”

“Or perhaps you’re just in shock, you’re looking rather bad, you know, I think we should get you to Madam Pomfrey right away,” declared Amy with her usual steam train conviction.

Riko leaned back with a sigh, a very unhappy one at that, and made a face. This was _so_ badly timed, in just a few hours their train for London would depart. They’d planned to stay awake the entire night and sleep in their obscured department, only shortly visiting their dormitories to collect, or rather, quickly pack their bags with what little they’d need in the short time until they visited the castle again.

“This sucks,” was Riko’s only comment, when she had no brilliant solution pop up in her head.

It didn’t help of course, and after a short, tense discussion it was agreed that Riko should go to Madam Pomfrey now in the hopes of making it to the train, even if she’d get detention for it. She was feeling less dizzy already and Vi helped convince Amy and Edie they should just get back to their dormitories, she’d deliver Riko safely to the door of Madam P. Riko was glad and grateful because Vi didn’t treat her like an invalid, just helped her get to her wand (luckily not splintered but strangely charged) so she could hold it in her left, because paranoia. She also agreed to take the fangs and Riko’s rucksack, which was filled with the classical exploring gear of rope and, well, opening implements and tools of various kinds. Nothing Madam P needed to see, anyway.

They stuck to the main corridors and stairs because it really was the shortest route from the stone griffin and it’s niche, where the door had again faded to nothing. Perhaps they shouldn’t have, or perhaps they should’ve been more careful, but then, hindsight was always 20/20 and Riko thought they hadn’t paid less attention than at any other time during their explorations. Besides, it was a moot point, once you rounded a corner and ran neatly into a dark, robed figure.

Stumbling back with a shocked, pained croak and holding her wand in front of her, Riko was only glad Vi had been two steps to her left and could now either give backup fire or get away, depending on what this turned into. The latter, Riko decided, after the first sound from the figure, who turned out to be none other than Gilderoy Lockhart. He was holding his wand out as well, as he took a quick step backwards, his other hand hidden in his robes. Riko quickly stepped away from the corner, hoping Vi would get the hint of putting distance between them.

“Wha.. Ms Slyver, dear Merlin, what are you doing here? And what’s wrong with your arm?”

Riko grit her teeth with some frustration because seriously, did he have to be so damn perceptive now of all times? At least he wasn’t Filch, she reminded herself, and aimed for a sufficiently harmless tone and expression. “Professor Lockhart! I.. I’m so sorry, I was just on the way to the hospital wing, I, uh, I sort of broke my arm..”

But, as she talked, hoping mainly to distract, a very bad feeling stole into her. It was strange, utterly distracting, and it made it very hard to come up with things to say. No, that wasn’t right, she had tons of potential lies at the ready, as she surely wasn’t going to tell him the truth, she didn’t owe him anything of the sort, after all. Only, they seemed to die on the tip of her tongue, leaving her stranded with only the weakest, barest sort of tool, leaving out things while speaking in jumbled pieces of truth. It was like trying to make up a text by glueing together sentences cut out from different books, and through the wool behind her eyes even that was much harder going than when she’d been at Malfeasant, for example.

Riko blinked, shocked and unsure of what the bloody hell was going on. Lockhart was eyeing her warily, a fact that in itself was odd, and he hadn’t let loose even one of his trademark glinting smiles.

“Really,” he remarked in an uncharacteristically dubious tone, “in that case I wonder what you are doing on the second floor. It is going on four, students should be in bed, especially in light of the attack just two days ago..”

He was looking at her expectantly and Riko felt the blood drain from her face as she realized what he was saying, well, implicating. And she was on the second floor, where the attack had occurred, and neither her name nor her being a Slytherin were helpful. What let panic bloom in her head, though, was that she was suddenly unable, simply physically unable, to talk.

Her throat was working, but no sound came out. Shakily she took another breath, croaking unintelligible as he waited, adding an impatient. “Well?”

“Looking for hints..” she at last managed to wheeze, shaking with true shock now, never mind whatever Amy had thought was shock. She couldn’t lie, it was impossible, how could that.. bloody, impossible, thrice-damned griffin she’d _gut_ her, how..

Spots of light were dancing in her vision again and she felt decidedly ill, stumbling in a daze, only vaguely aware of the sound of laboured, much-to-quick breathing and she was cold, why was it so cold? Then there was a harsh, stinging pain in her arm and Riko realized she was leaning against the wall to her right. She clenched her teeth, clawing back against the surge of panic.

Closing her eyes, Riko leaned harder and focussed on the pain and the raging, ice-cold fury at the idea of that useless piece of feathered bullshit messing with her ability to say whatever the hell she felt like, how dare she, bloody clueless judgemental griffin, no wonder she wasn’t on their coat of arms any more, who’d want that insane featherbrain..

“.. hear me? Ms Slyver? You shouldn’t lean like that, it looks rather bad, ah, yes, you can hear me now, right? Yes, breathing helps..”

Riko nodded weakly, afraid of even trying to open her mouth. Her limbs felt weak and wobbly but breathing she could do.

“Now, you said you were looking for clues, is that right?” Lockhart asked, looking at her all serious and earnest, which really fit the entire surreal situation.

Riko nodded again but kept her jaw clenched shut and concentrated on even breaths, and stopping her shaking, and not letting her head explode in embarrassment at her stupid, _stupid_ attack of bloody fucking _nerves, shite_.

“Well, you certainly look like you found something,” he remarked drily, adding almost conversationally, “you are certainly aware you should share any hints you might have found, right?”

Taking another steadying breath, Riko first nodded, then shook her head, frustrated at his wording and trying to find something she could actually say. “No hints,” she ground out, her throat burning at the two words. She took another deep breath, wildly casting about for acceptable, speakable words, “accident.. exploring.. hh discharge..”

“Alright, calm down, Ms Slyver, I see this would be better discussed at some other time and you clearly need help,” said Lockhart quietly, standing up from where he’d bowed down to her.

Riko bit her lips to keep from sighing in relief, but her shoulders sagged of their own accord at his words and she realized only now her pulse had become unreasonably fast again. Fuck, she’d take him and his questions any day of the week and accept just about any detention imaginable, even if she had no clue what he was really up to or capable of, if only she could go back to being in control of her own damn tongue and self!

He was shooting her a thoughtful look now, reminding her for one terrible and ridiculous moment of Gloria’s discerning glare. Then he declared in his usual Lockhart-fashion “Clearly something needs to be done about that arm of yours.” and Riko could’ve sworn she saw a flash of curiosity and humour as she drew back in shock.

“Now now, Ms Slyver, you can relax, I know perfectly well what I’m doing. Nothing untoward will happen if you remain calm,” he flashed her his usual overly dashing smile, jarringly odd after his short time of mostly normal, even competent behaviour, and shook his wand out of his sleeve.

“No, thank you, Professor,” she croaked, hastily clearing her throat. “I’ll be fine enough until I reach Madam Pomfrey.. got a Levatio on it and all.”

She distractedly fingered the wand in her left hand and drew back her shoulders, doing her best to return to her usual controlled self. The bit with the Levatio did help and bode well, as she hadn’t been the one to cast it but was still able to implicate so. If she could only keep her head now..

“Oh, nonsense, I know Mr Potter had a bit of an accident, but he was very agitated at the time and it will save Madam Pomfrey some work, she won’t be happy to be raised at this hour and it’s really no trouble for me..”

Something in his tone rubbed her entirely the wrong way, though Riko wasn’t sure what, couldn’t concentrate at all, and if there had been hints to notice she’d been to mush-headed to do so. Combined with his untoward insistence and the fact she rather liked her arm to have bones, even if they were currently a bit smashed, not to mention the very real worry about how whatever magic was still echoing in her would interact with his spell, there was no way she was going to accept this.

“No, thank you,” she said more strongly, gripping her wand tightly and cursing herself for not having trained properly with it left-handed, too.

“Ms Slyver, really, are you saying you refuse to let a teacher treat you..?” there was some confusion and also consternation in his voice now, and something else Riko was too wired to identify or care about.

“Yes,” she pressed out, temper rising in the face of this unreasonable shit when she just wanted to get to the damn hospital wing, not to mention the unreasonable bullshit that had come of finding Gryffindors stupid chamber and his idiotic, insane companion. “Yes, that is exactly what I’m saying,” she reiterated, raising her chin just so and holding her wand defensively in front of her.

“I refuse to have my arm treated by you just because I ran into you here, I haven’t got the slightest clue what _you_ are doing here at this time of night, and I’ll have you know I rather like my bones, and like them to be inside my arm, and comparing my experience of treated injuries, I will prefer Madam Pomfrey any day of the week and I won’t care about any sort of temper she might throw my way over it because I know she knows what she’s doing and..”

“What,” interrupted a chill voice that had Riko freeze like petrified rabbit, and wasn’t that just the perfect picture for this fucked up situation, “is going on here?”

And from the shadows behind Lockhart stepped Professor Snape. Again eerily like a ninja, he really was just plain scary at times.

Lockhart spun, suddenly unreasonably clumsy, leaning against the wall in a great show of relief, one hand at his chest. Riko blinked, torn between incredulous and numb. There was simply too much unreasonable in this night, she decided, and she was really rather accepting of odd things, but right now it was starting to be too much. Not that it changed anything, of course. She blinked again, the old well-known sliver of cold determination anchoring her, calm growing from it like vines, pushing those thoughts to the side, to be taken out and looked at some other time.

Lockhart was effusively greeting her head of house, making a much of his shock and how good it was to see his esteemed colleague. Professor Snape mostly ignored him, his dark eyes instead trained on Riko, boring into her like drills. So of course she relaxed her stance, letting her left arm with the wand fall to her side. Then, trying to look as apologetic as humanly possible, Riko took a deep breath. She could do this, she had after all managed well enough with just deflecting before Lockhart had started trying to mess with her arm.

“Professor Snape! I, ah, I apologize, uh, I was on my way to Madam Pomfrey. I was exploring, which I realize is against school rules, but I was hoping to find hints about, well, you know, the attacks and all, and I, ah, sort-of-had-an-accident-with-some-magical-backlash-or-something..” she trailed off when her throat refused to work again, pulse beating wildly, heart smashing itself against her ribs, her face freshly hot with embarrassment and hands slick with sweat.

But it had worked, it had actually worked! Her head was full of pounding, pulsing wire wool now, but the quicktime had saved her ass, yet again. After all, Riko reasoned, she did have a sort of accident, she certainly hadn’t planned on being attacked by a crazy griffin _or_ on having her shield fail her, and the rest was technically true in the same vein. She felt weak with relief. It might be hard and painful, but she wasn’t out of the game as long as she kept her head.

The scrutiny of those black eyes didn’t let up in the slightest, but he gave the smallest of nods, then tilted his head lightly in the direction of Lockhart and raised an eyebrow. The strange Defence-teacher had fallen silent, looking expectantly at her, too. Riko felt for a moment incongruously like a performer on a stage that was on fire. Even more incongruously, or perhaps inconceivably, it actually helped settle her nerves.

“I ran into Professor Lockhart and refused when he offered to heal me, after I told him what I just said, and I know that’s probably against some rules, too, but I rather like my bones and I don’t know how his spell would react with my arm and besides it’s technically Saturday already, which means it’s holidays, so taking points would be sort of unreasonable and I’d really appreciate it if I could get Madam Pomfrey to look over my arm before receiving my detention and, er, before catching the train tomorrow or rather today, of course, it’s only a few hours after all.. err, sorry..” Riko trailed off again, this time with a weak shrug - and immediately winced at the effect it had on her arm. She thought it had been a rather good performance, really. It was all true, of course, and rather well put-together, even if she said so herself, and her head was starting to spin again.

“I see,” drawled Professor Snape, gliding past Lockhart and shooting him a look that made the man back up a step.

Shaking his wand from his sleeve with a practised flick he let it run over, or rather just above, her arm and hand, silently working some spells Riko probably wouldn’t have recognised anyway. His face was again utterly unreadable, though his brows drew together a little as he focussed on whatever his examining spells showed him.

“Very well,” he pronounced drily after a while, straightening up, “Mr Lockhart, I shall take care of my wayward student and of course inform you of the detention she receives for her reckless behaviour. Good evening.. or morning, as it is.”

Then, with a very perfunctory nod to the other teacher, Professor Snape put his hand on her left shoulder and guided her down the corridor. Riko didn’t look back, instead taking care to take careful, even steps as her arm was starting to hurt even without her doing anything to it. Which meant Vi was not tailing her any more or the Levatio had run out of time already.

“It is unlikely you will be declared fit for travel in time for the train,” said Professor Snape in a very neutral sort of voice when they were about halfway to the hospital wing. “Especially considering you have yet to receive a fitting detention, which I am sure you understand will be no light decision, considering the.. situation.”

“Situation?” echoed Riko, confused and starting to worry, again. Seriously, she just wanted to sleep already, why was absolutely everything so damn unreasonable today?

“With the recent attacks,” sighed Snape, looking very tired for a moment and shocking Riko utterly in the process, despite his usual dust-dry tone,  “there has been a lot of focus on house Slytherin. Your name doesn’t exactly do you any favours, either, and to be caught out of bed, near the location of the last attack and also in the vicinity of a strange magical alarm not much earlier tonight, there may well be some questions of a rather more serious nature than regarding school rules.”

Riko almost fell over her feet in shock, gaping at her head of house in plain disbelief. Lockhart eyeing her with general suspicion was one thing, entirely creepy though it was, but to have her own head of house think she could have anything to do with those.. those utterly appalling attacks, when she was just trying to find out what was going on and how to stop it.. it was hurtful, actually, in a very surprising way that told her she had at some point decided to trust him without even realizing it. And seriously, beyond that, that he would actually say any of that, so damn bluntly, _gods_ , what snake _had_ he been?

He was looking back impassively at her, but his eyes seemed to soften for a moment, before he sighed again and turned her back to walking towards the hospital wing without further comment.

“Is there someone who should be informed to not expect you at King’s Cross tomorrow?” he asked after a while, when they were already in sight of Madam Pomfrey’s domain.

“I was invited by Edie.. by the Eohyrdes, they were going to get us from there and tomorrow, I mean Sunday, is her birthday and I really wouldn’t.. I mean.. I never.. I don’t even.. I can’t even _stand_ all that bloody, stuffy.. and do you think I.. who would even..?”

Riko’s mind was beyond frazzled now, she couldn’t deal with this, what if the Ministry got involved? What if someone wanted to talk to her parents? What if the headmaster wanted to question her? He could see through Obscurantis like it wasn’t even there, last year he’d jumped down a miles-deep cave knowing there was a Devil’s Snare at the bottom, and then driven away the ghost of Voldemort who had taken to hiding in other people’s heads. All the books and even everyone in her _house_ said that Voldemort, that crazy-ass bastard who had almost killed her last year, who had been so scary some people were still calling him You-Know-Who rather than his name, had been afraid of only Albus bloody Dumbledore, what was he going to ask her, what could she possibly say to someone like that?

“Ms Slyver, calm down, now,” said Professor Snape, bowing down to her and speaking very calmly, looking at her expectantly, and it was that look of calm, confident expectation that got through to her. She took a deep breath, feeling her head heat up with fresh embarrassment at falling apart like that, even with the wild threads of panic still worming around in her guts.

“Don’t panic,” he pronounced in an even, relaxed tone, the flash of warm, sardonic humour in his eyes calming and confusing her at the same time. He nodded, as if satisfied with her reaction and continued in his usual, hypnotically smooth voice. “I said there may be questions. It is going to depend on some other factors I have yet to determine. You are to let Madam Pomfrey take care of you now and follow her every instruction... with some luck you will meet your friends this very evening.”

He’d added that last bit after a short pause, and Riko felt oddly comforted that he had decided to say it. Professor Snape wasn’t one for empty phrases, so if he said it, it meant something. She nodded back and he straightened, knocking loudly and evenly on the door to raise Madam Pomfrey.

The mediwitch seemed to be there within moments and what with how often the Untouchables ended up here after various scrapes, Riko was well used to following her orders. She was so tired that she paid little to no attention to anything beyond the most direct things, such as “drink this” or “just lay back now, dear” and, as was often the case, Riko later couldn’t even recall at which point she had drifted off.


	15. Scattered Focus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The results of being caught may be less dire than dreaded in the dark of night, but holidays and distance to the matter, as well as other people’s actions, conspire to distract the Untouchables from their research. And besides, Hogwarts is really just too busy with crazy, no two ways about it.

When Riko woke up, slowly and lazily for it was warm and cosy and the pleasant drowsiness was rare enough to be appreciated, it was quiet and she was, of course, in the hospital wing. Taking a deep, relaxed breath, she looked around, feeling rested in a way she hadn’t for quite a while. Judging from the light the sun was just going down, so it was probably round four in the afternoon. It made for a very pleasant, peaceful sort of mood. She carefully moved her right hand, then gingerly raised her arm to look at her fingers as she tried moving them through some seals and conjuring gestures. No trouble was to be felt or seen; not only her hand, or her arm, no, Riko felt all-over as good as new, better than in quite a while.

Closing her eyes against the flare of the rays of light slanting through the windows, she relaxed a little further, settling her arm back on the bed. Now there was only one thing to be checked. She thought for a few moments, still pleasantly drowsy.

“I really like blizzards,” whispered Riko, trying the words on her tongue like a foreign taste.

It came out a little strange but her throat was dry and a little raw. Perhaps that was the reason, perhaps it wasn’t. She’d never really like blizzards, was quite sure she still utterly detested them, but after last year they also reminded her of Vi and butterbeer and other pleasant things. Riko thought again for something that would be absolutely and completely inconceivable, her lips quirking in a little involuntary smile. Hmm.

“I really hate the sun,” said Riko clearly, with conviction and authority, after clearing her throat, just to be sure. It was a grand, a fantastic feeling, and she grinned widely, almost laughing out loud in pleasure.

“Now why would you do that?” asked a silky voice she knew all too well, making her jerk in shock, eyes flying open to see her head of house giving her a reserved, but also lightly confused and, from the miniature crinkle of his eyes, amused look.

“Professor Snape!” she sputtered, completely thrown for a moment. But the bright, warm feeling of being herself again, trumped her surprise by far, setting her alight with fresh energy and glee. It was great to be in control of oneself, _truly_ , heh. “Oh, I don’t of course, it’s just a sort of saying, y’know, like break a leg when you actually want to wish luck,” Riko grinned, sitting properly and leaning back against the headboard. Sitting was better than laying there like an invalid any day of the week, and she did feel extremely good, besides. “Sorry, I didn’t notice you there,” she added with a sheepish smile, wondering just where he’d been hiding and how long. She hadn’t heard his approach after all. Well, he did move absurdly silently, so she really knew nothing at all, alright then, not much to be done about it, moving on..

Professor Snape slid over to a chair beside her bed, raising his eyebrow in a rather sardonic manner, but he didn’t pursue the matter. Riko was quite aware of the favour he was doing her and that he was very aware of it, too.

“I was just talking to Madam Pomfrey,” he said rather mildly and Riko could practically taste the electricity of the potential storm behind that statement. Looking innocent seemed a good idea.

“Well, I’m feeling great, I hope she wasn’t too miffed about being woken? I’m a little hazy on the details of it..” she trailed off with a light shrug and apologetic smile.

“Yes, that was one of the things she.. mentioned,” he replied in his best unreadable voice, studying her. Well if that wasn’t foreboding. Clearly he was not amused any more, or, well, at least not nicely amused. “So, when _did_ you last sleep, Ms Slyver?”

“Er, on Friday?” tried Riko, because she had, after all..

“I see. You are perhaps referring to the nap you took during your.. supposed lesson on defence, hm?” he smiled very thinly, a razor-thin scimitar if that, and it was not reassuring at all.

Riko opened her mouth and then, not having come up with something very good to say, closed it again. She did manage another sheepish look, at least. “Well, I was planning to sleep in during the holidays..” she mumbled after a few moments during which her head of house let the silence stretch.

Professor Snape did not look impressed with that. He leaned back and shot her another dry look and raised eyebrow.

“You do realize that having a protégée does not give you leave to ignore your own studies, rather the opposite. You are supposed to set an example and act responsibly, proving yourself worthy of the position. As it it,” he paused shortly, clearly for dramatic effect, “I have noticed a distinct decline in your work over the last few weeks, peaking, so to speak, in this week’s half-term exam. So have my colleagues, and the question has come up if it wise to continue letting you act as patron..”

Riko could only look down a the words, because, yes, she’d made the conscious decision for that, knowing the probable results. Well, she hadn’t known it might mean trouble for Theo, hadn’t thought of that at all, _bollocks_.

“Theo’s not going to have any trouble over this though, right? He did really great, passed Binns with full marks, even, and McGonagall almost, and he’s just about ready for the half-exams already!” She looked worriedly at her head of house, adding after a short deliberation, ”I was just distracted by looking for clues and I thought half-terms are, well, they’re not the real exams..”

Riko trailed off with a shrug, hoping the last bit wouldn’t hurt more than help. Calling any sort of test more or less pointless to a teacher’s face was a bit of a risk, but it might distract him enough so she wouldn’t fuck up things for her protégée. That’d be incredibly embarrassing and she’d feel right terrible about ruining Theo’s plans. He’d been so excited to join the second-year classes after the holidays. Professor Snape’s eyes did narrow at the words, but it was some moments before he spoke again. Gah, of course distraction only ever went so far with him once he was onto something, k’so, she knew that well enough.

“I see we are coming at least closer to the root of the current, somewhat problematic, situation. Now please correct me, should I be incorrect in any of my deductions.” The way he pronounced it he might as well have said facts. He sat very straight as he started to list and damn, but he was really serious, this was not good.

“Starting from Hallowe’en the list of books you have taken out of the library paints a rather.. interesting picture of your idea of what a Hogwarts student is supposed to learn during second year,” he gave her a dry, paper-thin smirk with only his eyes and continued, ignoring her look of shock. “And of course Slytherin keeps quiet about their own to others, but then, I _am_ Slytherin so surely you don’t expect me to know any less about your.. erratic record of attendance in the lair.”

Riko could only look down because she had admittedly not wasted much thought on it. She’d simply assumed that as long as she didn’t get into trouble, it didn’t matter. Well, she had gotten into trouble, yes, but she had also pretended to sleep in the dorms for most of her explorations, waiting until her roommates were asleep to sneak out. Thus, surely, he couldn’t really know. He could suspect, of course, because she’d pretended the same yesterday, after debriefing Theo when he returned from his last exam, but there was no proof. It didn’t seem to faze him though, and Riko had to admit lack of proof was bound to carry little weight to someone like Professor Snape, who surely knew all sorts of ways to fake or disappear just about any sort of proof. Keeping quiet seemed the best policy for now.

After a moment of silence that stretched rather uncomfortably, Professor Snape gave a short, irritated sigh. “I realize with the experience of last year colouring your perception you may think it a good idea to go look for clues, but I rather hope after last night’s incident you understand the dangers better, both direct and indirect. Not to mention the peril you are putting your friends in, for what exactly could any of you expect to do against something that can petrify a ghost, hm?”

Riko couldn’t help but stare at him in shock when he mentioned her friends. The accusation of endangering them hit home, neatly and painfully, but surely.. surely they hadn’t been caught..?

“They weren’t..” she started but closed her mouth at his narrow look.

“They weren’t caught, of course, but I have no doubt if given the opportunity to get you out of trouble for being found there, and potentially being accused of being the heir yourself, they would come clean soon enough,” he stated very matter-of-factly in his smuggest, silkiest, preparation-and-lead-up-is-everything-and-this is-obvious-voice.

Riko couldn’t even deny it and it made her feel horrible. The trouble Vi was bound to catch from her family, and Edie would feel miserable being caught breaking the headmaster’s trust to be a good little student, and Amy would be mortified, and after the way things had turned out with her friend’s house last year, Riko’d rather gnaw off her foot than let her Gryffindor friend relive that. But.. it _was_ afternoon, already..

“They took the morning train though, right?” she asked.

At the flash of something like annoyance in his dark eyes, relief sparked in her stomach, growing when he gave her a grudgingly neutral look, as good as a nod, that. He wasn’t going to let it go of course, but Riko felt much better already.

“Be that as it may, the matter of your various.. troubles remains, considering the situation you created,” he continued smoothly.

Riko braced herself, mission calm rolling over her now that she was able to act as she saw fit, free of worrying for her friends. She looked back evenly and nodded, ready to give it her best and hopefully make sure Theo didn’t become a collateral casualty. It was fair enough, really, she’d let herself get caught, after all.

But at first Snape only looked at her for long moments, face completely unreadable and eyes so guarded as to let nothing slip, just hypnotically black holes, much like Vi sometimes got. It didn’t exactly inspire confidence, but Riko could take care of herself well enough. At last he blinked, breaking their odd staring contest, and she was shocked to see him lean back, rubbing the bridge of his hawkish nose, exhaustion visible in his entire frame. Then he righted himself in the chair again, now all business.

“I have talked to the headmaster regarding the matter and after some deliberation it was agreed you would simply receive a detention, as there is nothing tying you to any of the attacks. In regards to your patronage of Mr Nott you are given the chance to prove yourself. Should your grades not improve dramatically in the first few weeks of the new term, you will be relieved of the responsibility and he will have to look for someone to take your place.”

Riko nodded, adding a belated “Yes, sir,” and feeling strangely reminded of the situation after last year’s incident with the blizzard. Relief was starting to snake through the back of her head, but she held back. After all Professor Snape clearly wasn’t finished yet.

“Considering last night’s events you will spend your detention with Mr Lockhart, helping him with whatever small chores he may need help with. You will learn the exact time and duration upon the start of the next term.”

Whatever chores, hm? A chance to find out more about what he got up to, more like. And ‘Mr Lockhart’ not Professor, hm? Riko almost grinned but managed to hold back and simply nod another “Yes, sir,” looking very neutral indeed.

“As for your derailed travel plans,” added Professor Snape, almost like an afterthought, “The Eohyrdes have been informed you will arrive in the evening by Floo. As I understand, Hagrid is supposed to walk you to the Three Broomsticks, after you’ve had the chance to eat something and collect your things, of course.”

“Yes, sir,” nodded Riko again, warm and fuzzy with relief now that he seemed finished. “Ahno, thank you, sir, for, err, clearing that up..”

She drew some hair behind her ears, embarrassed but determined to thank him this time, directly and not just with a nod or somesuch, fuck protocol. The obvious meaning was, of course, for the travel plans, but it was really for the entire thing. She didn’t want to know how he must have argued with the headmaster to get him to not question her further. And even if it was right terrifying that he knew so much about her, the fact he’d gone to the trouble of investigating, talking to the other teachers and even Madam Pince, meant he’d taken the matter very serious indeed and decided to go to all the trouble and help her out.

He stared at her for a moment, face still unreadable, before he nodded shortly. Then he blinked, and it seemed in that second he decided to add something else. “Ms Slyver, I expect you to take my words to heart,” he said, “This is an entirely different situation to last year, and the best way to show your appreciation will be to make sure I don’t have to worry about students running round the school at night, getting attacked or otherwise into trouble. Now, leaving aside however you managed to trigger such a strange magical backlash, are you sure you didn’t find anything that might give a clue..?”

Riko blinked right back at the odd, up-front approach. He must be really very worried, which didn’t seem su make sense. Being petrified wasn’t really that horrible a fate, cured easily enough once the Mandrakes were grown. And although he had of course much better grounds, his attitude about them trying to help and find clues was rather close to that of Gloria the insane griffin. Riko would find it hard to agree with anything of the sort, ever, even if it was from her head of house, and besides..

She heaved a sigh, biting her lips and staring at her hands, thinking through everything they had learned and researched. And found, of course. Was there anything helpful, anything that might give a clue, as at least Professor Snape was obviously trying to find out what was really going on..? It had to be something he didn’t know yet, but he already knew what she’d been reading, discorporeal beings and architecture and old records, so that was right out. And Gloria was obviously not one to be helpful..

“Well, I, er, didn’t find any real clues to what’s going on, that is.. do you know the book The Two Kneazles?”

Seeing his eyes widen, then narrow in recognition, Riko hastened to continue, while he was giving a slow, dubious nod.

“Right, it’s an adventure book, but he did do a lot of research, it says so in the preface, and there really are two ghost kneazles running round the school and, well, I mean, it does sound more reasonable than Salazar Slytherin just building a chamber with a monster in it and taking a hike. Anyway, I just thought it’d be a good idea to find those guardians or their chambers, because there’d be some clues there, surely.”

She leaned back then, with a shrug and a small sigh, looking down again, and shook her head with wry humour, thinking of her excitement at finding the chamber and of Gloria’s statement. And look what they had to show for it now: nothing. A door went nearby and steps came closer, interrupting this very uncomfortable moment. Because Riko owed him, she was perfectly aware of it, and she didn’t want to lie to him. But to tell him about the griffin would be all sorts of bad. She’d do it, if she thought it’d do any good, but Gloria would either refuse to be helpful or get all four of them into trouble, serious trouble at that. And for no good at all. After all, hadn’t Gloria said herself she had no clues to give? And griffins didn’t just prevent lying around them, the reason people often wanted to put them on their shields, they never lied themselves, ever, it just went against their nature.

Then Madam Pomfrey was upon them, greeting and checking Riko every which way and probably also some others, making sure there was nothing wrong and giving stern orders for more rest over the holidays. Riko felt a little bad about it, but she didn’t make the effort to say more to her head of house, watching him quietly take his leave with only the conclusions from what she said so far.

“Very well, Miss Slyver, you seem well enough,” declared the mediwitch after a while in her usual brusque manner. “Take your time and eat something, you need to restock, really, you children, always pushing and pushing. You’re still growing, keep that in mind, will you! Ah, and your friends were here in the morning, to leave a note.”

Having just waved her wand, conjuring a big tablet with feet that rested on either side of Riko’s legs, stacked full with an all-out high tea, Madam Pomfrey now gestured to a small bedside table Riko hadn’t even noticed. Her wand in its wandholder was on it, and now also a small, folded note the mediwitch had just drawn from her robes. A note she didn’t seem to have mentioned to Professor Snape. That was really..

“Oh. Ah, thank you, Madam Pomfrey. Er, should I just leave then, after tea?” asked Riko, giving the mediwitch a warm, grateful smile.

“Yes, dear, you’re clear to go, once you take some food. You missed two meals and as I said, you’re still growing. I can hardly let you go hiking to Hogsmeade on an empty stomach, after that night you had. Honestly, the things you children always manage to get up to..”

“Oh, er, of course, thank you, again.. and ah, sorry for waking you..” added Riko weakly. “Then good holidays? In case I don’t see you before I leave? Not much that can happen, there’s hardly anyone staying, right?”

Madam Pomfrey blinked and looked at Riko a little oddly, at last giving a brusque little sigh that could almost pass as a short laugh. “Well, one can always hope,” she said, “at least we seem to have the blizzards out of the way for this year. Good Holidays, then, Ms Slyver.”

And with those words she left and Riko soon heard the door to her office closing again. Drowning her slightly rueful grin in warm, spicy tea, she fished her things from the bedside table before tucking in hungrily. Less than an hour later she was ready to go. As Vi had promised in her brilliantly cryptic note, her rucksack was obscured beside their couch, and it took little time for Riko to take a warm shower, pack some things, answer Draco’s questions and hunt down Hagrid with Korra’s help.

Even with the sun already down, the snow and the clear sky made it easy enough to see clear as day, though that was no doubt helped by her eyes, too. Either way, both Hagrid and Fang seemed to see well enough too, though the ground keeper was strangely tense when she knocked on his hut and even afterwards, as they were hiking through the thick snow. It had Riko uneasy, to see the friendly keeper of the keys and grounds so uncharacteristically quiet, like he was worried, but the matter was quickly blown from her mind when they entered the almost-empty Three Broomsticks and Madam Rosmerta greeted her with a friendly smile and wave.

“Ah, hullo there, Miss Slyver,” she called with a cheerful wink, “bit earlier today, eh? Ah, and good evening, Hagrid!”

Hagrid had ushered her in first and followed with some seeming reluctance, and now he was looking with some curiosity between Riko and the barwitch, who looked just the least bit surprised herself to see him. Right, Hagrid was more often at the Hog’s Head, and officially Riko had little reason to have been here before..

“Madam Rosmerta, good to see you and very good holidays to you! Yeah, I’m a bit earlier today but even so we still made it to the Sorting and your brilliant butterbeer really was a great start to the year, even before the feast,” declared Riko with a warm smile and hopeful eyes - and she wasn’t disappointed.

“Hah, of course you’d say that, silver tongue still bright I see,” twinkled the bar witch with a sunny smile and wink, “What happened to your companion of last time, and would you care for a fresh taste after that long a wait?”

It was a great relief, to have the witch catch on, and oblige her too, about keeping her excursion of last winter a secret. It was also great fun, and Riko convinced Hagrid to let her buy a tankard for each, so he’d be warm on the way back, and some bottles for Edie tomorrow. She thanked Rosmerta profusely, ostensibly for the bottles as she took them from the bar but really just as much for the cover-up, which seemed to amuse the witch greatly.

Then Riko managed to not trip at all while taking the Floo to the Latch and was welcomed warmly and in great spirits by her friends and the Eohyrdes. It was a very pleasant evening, with an excellent dinner, warm and lazy, filled with games and laughter, easy conversation and only politely discreet questions. Vi was, like last year, very quiet, all background and polite, the whole speak when spoken to, but she was already starting to relax and Riko was sure her friend would get used to it very quickly in the coming days. The two of them were to share Lea’s room and bed, and when she rolled up in her blanket, Vi only an arms-length away, Riko felt herself relax, genuinely happy and at ease.

“So, how’d it go with Professor Snape?” asked Vi after a few moments of silence in the light dark.

“Oh, alright enough, I suppose,” answered Riko easily, “Got detention with Lockhart but I didn’t even lose any points, and I didn’t get questioned any further by anyone, either. Professor Snape’s really great like that. So, you stuck to Lockhart, then?”

“Yeah, ’cause you had it right, what exactly was he doing there in the middle of the night? Didn’t find anything interesting, though, he just patrolled some and then went back to his office..” Vi sounded mildly annoyed by that and Riko grinned and looked over, quickly making out her friend staring at the roof.

“You realize you can never again call me a nutter, right? I mean, just.. wow.. exploding at a griffin.. just.. fantastic, seriously. Just wanted to say that..”

Riko rolled on her back then, to give her friend the privacy of not being watched with glowing eyes, and there was again a relaxed silence that invited sleep.

“Well, she just pissed me off in a few too many ways,” was Vi’s dry comment after a while and didn’t that just say everything about her?

Riko snorted a short, appreciative laugh and almost overheard her friend’s bitterly dry. “Bit too much of my mother, right down to the name.”

It was a testament to Vi’s trust and relaxation, to make such a comment, joke almost, and it left Riko humbled. It also left her feeling oddly, well, unfair, really, to enjoy her friend’s trust like this without giving it back.

“I want to tell you all something, when Amy comes over after Christmas,” she said to the ceiling, eyes tracing the grain of the irregular beams overhead where they entered the whitewash.

The silence was more thoughtful now, less relaxed, and Riko was very uncomfortably aware of just about everything around her, the folds of the blanket, her crossed arms behind her head, the twitching in her toes, the..

“You don’t need to, y’know. I don’t need your secrets to trust you. That griffin was just being an ass, she was keeping her own secrets after all, about her companions and all..” Vi’s answer had obviously taken her some thought and it heartened Riko, letting her draw a deep, mostly silent breath. Bloody feckin’ gods and spirits, she owed her friend so much, just for that answer, never mind everything else..

“Yeah, ta, I know.. I trust you, too, y’know, and it’s nothing to do with knowing or not knowing secrets,” Riko tried to explain. “S’just.. something I want you all to know, for a while now, about a year actually, just never got around to it..”

“Not going to tell it tomorrow though, huh?” came Vi’s wry comment after a few moments and Riko knew Vi had seen through her reasoning then.

Not going to ruin Edie’s birthday, huh, or the Yule- and Christmas celebrations. There was an undercurrent of worry in her tone, too, ready to offer help already, without even knowing what it was about at all. Riko bit her lip with some frustration and rolled on her stomach, propping on her elbows and looking at her hands, thinking.

“It’s nothing actively terrible, a’right, s’just.. complicated, y’know, just, well, something about me.. like.. family stuff..” she managed, before being utterly surprised by a gentle poke in the shoulder.

“Alright then, relax already, huh?” advised Vi offhandedly, rolling onto her side again, looking at her seriously in the vague light that came from the stars and snow outside. “No reason to fret, we already know your inbuilt paranoia. We’ll deal. Anyway.. why tell me now?”

It was such an obvious and sweet distraction manoeuvre that Riko was quite thoroughly bowled over by it, which just went to show, seriously. How had she even tensed up so much without realizing? With a wide answering grin she also fell back on her side, looking at her friend.

“Well.. now I’ll have to really do it because I told you I would..” she smiled with a slight, sideways shrug.

Vi shot her a wry look and muttered a dry “Gee, thanks,” but she was smiling back, an actual face-participation smile, fond and warm. Riko felt her cheeks heat, because Vi had, yet again, seen through her words and caught their meaning of ‘I trust you, I want you to know’.

“Ta,” she mumbled, curling up and drawing the big, warm blanket around her until only her eyes were looking out, at Vi.

Her friend watched with faint amusement, then tolerantly rolled her eyes and said with finality “Good night.” And, yes, it definitely was, at that.

*

After this promising actual start to the holidays, Edie’s birthday was great, with Amy arriving around ten and staying until after dinner, lots of games both inside and running around in the masses of snow outside. Riko was indescribably proud to be able to show them at last a subtitled video tape of the Cagliostro-special of Lupin Sansei, and when Amy pronounced afterwards ‘now I know what car you’ll enchant’ with a big cheerful grin, Riko only grinned back. There was no mention at all of it being anything less than a fantastic idea and Riko couldn’t seem to get rid of the warm fuzzy glow in her guts at seeing her friends enjoy and appreciate her favourite depiction of the younger version of her favourite master thief. And now she could start calling Vi Jigen whenever she felt like it. Then they got to make platzerl, because Edie apparently loved it so much.

Understandably so, mind. The five of them, Kean included, sitting round the great kitchen table, rolling out the dough, cutting out the different shapes, placing the little forms this way and that, flicking a piece of dough at someone or testing if it really still tasted just right; it made for a pleasant time. Smelled great, too, once they started putting the trays into the oven, and it was even more fun when they got round to decorating the cooled biscuits, alright, platzerl, in the most glaring colours and tastes. They weren’t very hungry for dinner, though it was nice to nibble a little cheese and sausage after all the sweets.

Next day was Yule, which was apparently celebrated by everyone tying various sweets and gingerbread and the like to leaves of evergreen and presenting them to everyone else. It meant also a great big feast that made the table groan, first, and then the company, because they were so stuffed. Then Christmas was almost upon them, which meant they were hard-pressed to make their last purchases at Diagon Alley. Edie’s parents took them along and it was a fruitful if tiring day. They separated again, properly this time, meeting up on accident again and again even before their agreed time. Riko made sure to be properly obscured when she sent off Korra with a few envelopes of Solitary Pounds and the like to her local folks. No cards, this year, unless you’d count short notes on ripped notebook-paper.

In Marjin Alley Riko and Edie managed to haggle down a used trunk, looking just nice enough and bigger on the inside, to a price that was within the budget the three of them had thrown together. It was simply all sorts of wrong that Amy had to leave books at home because her luggage was too small; it just wouldn’t do. There was even enough left to add some sweets to the gift, as simply an empty trunk might be a bit of a disappointment. Then Vi stumbled on some nice gifts for Edie’s grown-ups, a set of ghostly cat and mice for the parents, the charms for the fake pets inlaid as copper in a pretty sandstone, and a weatherglass for Oma. Put it on a map and it’d show you the weather at the place. Riko found a nifty extendible wandering staff for Kean and a small, dented compass that remembered which route you’d taken. It was only a few knuts on account of being fairly dented and Riko bought it on impulse for Ginny, together with a set of ever-so-disreputable trick dice for Draco. This way he couldn’t complain about the set of less-disreputable cards she’d already reserved for Tony. She tried but she didn’t get away without a few interesting bits and bobs just waiting to be poked or tested or read-through, but, well, not exactly a problem, that.

Then the last couple days leading up to Christmas were a flurry of preparation as everyone wanted to somehow improve on whatever they had managed to buy so far, and wrap it nicely, and also just faff about. For testing, mostly, they had to make sure to not mess up their gifts with attempts of improvements, after all. Amy’s trunk received some nice wards that way, Vi really was brilliant in showing relevant foundations and tricks and in cooperation it left them embedded in small rough garnets from Riko’s stock of testing stones that they drilled into the lock covers; then of course each of them had some little thing they had thought of putting inside, already wrapped. In Riko’s case a small collection of lock picks, who knew what others’ were.

They managed to tweak Oma’s weatherstone so it would show at least a little bit of the landscape with the weather, and Kean’s staff got a little sandstone embedded that would make it that much more hardy and good for protection while wandering. Riko included some nice quills with curved holders in the wrapped gifts to her two closest housemates, pointedly didn’t fret on the hopefully-thoughtful bits she’d settled on for their parents and her other housemates of sufficient relevance, and planned on how best to deliver. Draco was staying at the school this year, his parents apparently on a, hm, trade-related holiday on some warm-water, French-speaking island, while Tony’s family had their main estate in Lancashire, which, yeah, was on the direct course, alright then.

The big day came and went with much excitement and surprisingly little stress. True, the grown-ups spent much of the day in the kitchen or decorating, insistingly refusing any help and all but throwing the children out of the house, but it was quite likely for the best, Riko had to admit. The five of them spent the day tiring themselves out in snow battles, hide and seek, and exploring, and when it was time for the feast, late afternoon, they fell on the food like a starved horde. Later, while Korra was on her way to Hogwarts by way of Lancashire with Tony’s little package, Draco’s even smaller one, the pack of house gifts to be distributed by the great eagle owl that ran the Hogwarts owlery, and the trunk Mr Eohyrde had been obliged to shrink, Ginny’s compass inside it, so that Amy could pass it on, the three Untouchables and Kean were drowsing by the fire even before it was time to go to bed.

The morning brought gifts and thanks and much running around and trying out of everything. It was a while before everyone settled down to breakfast. Riko was mostly glad Danae had been early enough that only Vi saw her irritably knocking her beak on their window. The great eagle owl hopped through in a crouch, probably starting to think Riko was intentionally staying in places with windows too small for her. At least this time she only had to carry a small letter.

 

_One should never be without a trustworthy watch. I hope you take heed of my advice and visit Saturnia’s Superior Wizarding Watches. Just give your name, she will be expecting you._

_Pleasant Holidays from your spellfather and his Lady Narcissa,_

_Lucius, Lord of Malfoy_

 

Vi’s eyebrows rose at that, and she answered Riko’s questioning look with an appreciative whistle before actually explaining. “They’re ultra-exclusive and insanely expensive.. there’s a raging side market with watches that are supposedly second hand Saturnia’s, cause they’re pretty much indestructible, and kept in the families after the owner dies, and sometimes the heirs can’t even get them to work for them because they’re so specialized and all..”

Riko grinned, and not just at the expression side market. Soon Vi was telling her stories of watches with incredible skills and histories, some gadget-style spawning different little tools, others going even so far as slow or speed up time for the keeper in some ways. Clearly, Riko had to get some info before visiting the store. This turned out to be easier said than done. For one, there was still the matter of their research, and then there was fact she had to drastically raise her grades. And that meant she had to actually try and find out what the lessons of the last few weeks had been about. This shocked her friends exactly up to the point she mentioned the threat of abandoning Theo. And then there was the matter of Amy.

Their friend had promised to come over on Saturday, but instead a school owl arrived with a very vague note on her inability to come because she was stuck at Madam Pomfrey’s. Obviously she wasn’t petrified, so, really, what was going on? Well, Edie’s parents were off ‘visiting boring older family’ as Edie put it with a closed smile, so they swore Kean to secrecy and set out. Offered a fair favour, whoa there, he’d even promised to distract Oma with outside exploration while they took the Floo to Hogsmeade, sharp kid, really.

When they at last found Amy, in the hospital wing still, Riko was hard-pressed not to laugh. Not because it was ridiculous, no, but Amy was just so incredibly cute! And really, it was oddly fitting, with her mane, and also pretty awesome: Amy had turned into a cat-girl. It took a while until they got the whole story out of her and Riko would’ve been lying if she said she wasn’t at least a little exasperated with her friend.

Apparently Potter and Ronald had been so convinced that Malfoy was the heir that Amy set out to collect proof. Which _was_ an admirable goal. She’d found a way for them to make Polyjuice Potion, hence the petty theft of Professor Snape’s stores, and shite but that was actually more of a problem than this here. What if he’d suspect use of Polyjuice now, just in general, suspicious hardass that he was? Too late, though, and while she’d at first intended to keep an eye on them in the lair she’d then been plagued by an attack of conscience, and also impatience, and it had resulted in a strange headlong rashness. Well, it certainly proved Amy was a Gryffindor, seriously.

Instead of taking the normal Polyjuice with the hair of Em (that she had, rather brilliantly if Riko might say so, collected at the duelling club) Amy had taken one of the experimental Polyjuice potions and added a black cat hair from one of the cats in her common room. For science, she said. Now her face was covered in soft, dark fur, her eyes glowing a warm, bright amber, and she had long pointed cat ears poking up through her usual curly mane, complete with little tufts like a lynx. She even had a tail to match and sharp, retractable claws for fingernails on her hands and feet, which were also covered in very fine, black fur, just like her entire body. It was truly fantastic.

Amy was at first very self-conscious of her breach of trust, as she saw it, and also her, well, furry problem. It took a while for Riko to completely reassure her that it was alright, yes, really, no, she didn’t hold a grudge, and so on, and _then_ it was just as much work to have her loosen up about her current existence as a cat-girl. However, together the three of them managed that last bit very well, if Riko said so herself. Soon, she was relaxed enough to tell them how different it was to see through a cat’s eyes, asking Riko about things she herself had never really thought of and remarking to Edie about her increased sense of smell and how it was different about Edie’s and about the utterly odd sensations she got from her whiskers. It was fascinating and put them at ease, too, knowing she was alright.

Also, despite the repeated interruptions when Madam Pomfrey came by to check Amy again and give her some potions, they managed to share some hitherto unknown information, courtesy of Potter and Ronald’s foray, and also some bits that  Potter had simply not thought important enough to mention to his friends earlier. If that didn’t say everything already then Riko really didn’t know.

At least the two mane-brains knew now that Draco was really not the heir, although he’d apparently claimed he’d want to help him if he knew who it was. It left Riko with a fresh urge to shove his teeth in, but she put it in a secure container in her head and stored it away for another time. Maybe at duelling club after the hols, if it was even true. She’d have to find out, carefully, because surely Draco would realize his goons were acting oddly with two Gryffs impersonating them. Vingory were admittedly sometimes not the brightest, neither of them, but they had their snakes already. And for now info trumped temper, even if it was from Potter and of doubtful relevance to their cause.

Apparently Lord Malfoy was still battling with Ronald’s father about the muggle protection act, and trying to instigate an inquiry about the supposed flying car Weasley had supposedly bought, and generally being a great hindrance for the forces of the good and righteous or somesuch. Now, Riko wouldn’t put it past Lord Malfoy at all to own all sorts of tricky items that might have been declared illegal at some point or other. And yes, it was cute to hear about a supposedly hidden chamber below the drawing room floor at Malfeasant, but it didn’t do them any good for their quest. Not to mention she’d never transgress so badly against her host as a guest there, to have an actual peek.

Another thing that none of them had even thought about was the implication that Dumbledore seemed to be hushing up the fact that students were being attacked and petrified. They did all read the Daily Prophet to some degree, and there had been nothing in there, true, but they hadn’t wasted any thoughts on why that might be. But then, Riko rather doubted anything good would come off the Ministry trying to ‘help’, so she couldn’t fault the headmaster on that end.

Far more interesting was the info Potter had thought unimportant, and really, wasn’t that just typical? He’d been awake, his arm bones still growing back, back when McGonagall and the headmaster brought in Creevey and at the time overheard several new clues. Firstly, the kid had tried to photograph whatever had attacked him, which showed some real dedication, seriously, and it had completely melted the film. So it had to be something that had a lot of energy at its disposal or even just floating around it. The other hint, more direct but just as puzzling, were the words Dumbledore had uttered when asked about the opening of the ominous bloody chamber of secrets (which could thus be confirmed to exist, probably) and by whom it might have been done. His words had apparently been, “The question is not who.. it is how.”

It made very little sense, specially the bit about only one chamber of secrets being mentioned, but then perhaps it was a completely different chamber? After all, the chambers of the guardians had probably not been considered secret, with people needing a way to call them if they needed help, right? It might also explain why he didn’t wonder who, but how, perhaps it was something that could just be activated, accidentally even?

At least they knew a few more clues via Draco, though Riko personally was inclined to treat any intel from him with about as much caution as if it was from Potter. And in this case it was both, coming from Draco by way of Potter, and if that wasn’t a recipe for disastrous loss of content and meaning then she really didn’t know. But still, those were the sources they had and according to them the ominous, singular chamber of secrets had been opened before, fifty years ago, and at the time a muggleborn student had died. Riko wasn’t clear on how, but perhaps the petrified student fell down and was broken to bits? Could that even happen?

Besides those questions (which really just meant added and probably pointless research on the vaguest of hints, for which they had no time anyway) Draco had said that whoever had been responsible had been caught and expelled, and was probably still in Azkaban. That might’ve been an actual helpful hint, but Vi said it was impossible to get such general, unspecific access of the admission records of the dreaded wizarding prison unless you were or knew a high-ranking ministry official. This meant Riko couldn’t even play her anonymous informant card and request info from Tonks, who was after all still a trainee Auror, so that was useless, too.

All in all, they were left with much food for thought but no real clues, which was extremely frustrating. Now they didn’t even know if they were going in the right direction with their research! Perhaps that was also the reason Professor Snape had looked at her so oddly when she’d mentioned Graveworthy’s The Two Kneazles. Now they were stranded with no concrete leads, which never happened to people like Sherlock Holmes, but, well, he was both fictional and a bit of a pretentious asshole anyway, and also Amy was stuck at the hospital wing, as her case of cat seemed rather serious. Clearly leaving her alone with mane-brains was just a bad idea, generally and always. Madam Pomfrey had already told her it might take up to two months until she was all human again.

The Untouchables decided unanimously to leave off experimental Polyjuice potions after this; they were far too busy and also the holidays passed far too quickly. It was as if the time flew away on hidden wings while they grumbled over their homework, wandered the snowy hills and groves, explored and hid in the stables, played all sorts of games, or rested afterwards, just hanging around and listening to the MCs of speed folk that Edie had copied for Riko as a Christmas gift.

Kean was always only too glad to distract them from their homework to do something fun, which to him seemed to be absolutely everything they did. But then, there didn’t really seem to be any Wizarding kids in the area and he didn’t go to the village school because it was simply too far away to be practical, so he had no friends to hang out with the rest of the time. Oma was home schooling him and, judging from all the things Edie knew, Kean had a rather good deal there. He clearly enjoyed it, too, which was easy to do as Oma was a brilliant mix of entertaining and sharp, but still, she wasn’t keen on running around the place to have harebrained adventures.

She rather preferred to take walks for her harebrained adventures, at her age, she’d said once, and there’d been some amazing stories there, but Riko could easily understand Kean being glad for the company of such brilliant people as Edie and her friends. Especially when they got round to sneaking off to the village, crossing a few paddocks that were hidden from muggles and obviously not meant to be crossed by people. There was a number of those on the Eohyrde’s land, reserved for care of the creatures muggles weren’t supposed to see, and as they vaulted over the fence that separated them from the last stretch of road leading to their goal, laughing wildly and quite thoroughly out of breath from being chased in circles by a pair of twin African Wyvvern cubs, Riko was sure he was close to bursting from fun.

They strayed around the village a little and at last ended up in the Blue Box. The pub was comfy and very warm as they stepped in, and in next to no time they were sitting at a corner table in the small commons, sipping butterbeer disguised as common malt beer. Both muggles and wizards were served in what was the official main pub of Bearley Green Bagot, run by a rather young and dapper looking blonde wizard who insisted on being called Jacky and his muggle girlfriend Martha, a quick-witted jester whose brilliant and cheery grins shone like silver in her dark-skinned face.

Mostly they stayed in the Latch though, or it’s grounds, as it was easy enough to have all sorts of fun there, both inside and out. All of Edie’s family were great for practising German and the grown-ups also knew some French which was always entertaining, be it over the course of a meal or game. Especially Oma was always good for either great stories of her life, exotic facts about the world, or fierce games of chess and backgammon, and she regularly sharked them at most card games. Riko was learning quickly, though, and it was always highly entertaining no matter who won. And Fritz had to be the most patient feline in history, from what he put up with in their games. Well, that, or perhaps he just had a very odd sort of humour.

All in all, there was very little reason to ever want to leave the Latch but they still headed out for Diagon Alley round the middle of the week. Both by common assent and because Riko had implied her family had sent her a voucher for Saturnia’s when the matter of family gifts came up. Vi had raised an eyebrow but not commented any further than a wry smile - of the only round-the-eyes kind. Riko was even more ridiculously grateful for that than Vi’s official gift, a private introduction into Arabic writing styles and prevalent forms of use, and resolved to try and come up with an even better present for her friend’s birthday than she felt the Christmas one had been.

Vi had certainly looked pleased with the in-itself useful notebooks, brushes, and quill tips (no leads or coals or the like, with what Riko used for her listening, but she’d teamed up with Edie, who’d also come up with the idea of muggle water colour pencils!). Half were charmed for extra fun for the artistically inclined, for which Vi and her regular scribblings, down-right sharp comic strips during Binn’s, certainly qualified. Now what could she come up with to top that? Oh, well, that was still months off..

In London, located in a narrow corner of Diagon Alley, Saturnia’s Superior Wizarding Watches was incredibly impressive just to walk into, with all the different sorts of magical clocks and watches ticking their own private time or other measure, exuding power and their, well, own taste and purpose. It was a little similar to Ollivanders, with all the free-floating energy, but it was nowhere near as mixed-up or dusty, more like a kind of light, soft mist or aura hovering around each single clock. However, the shop became even more impressive once you got to take a bit of a look around and then talked to the owner.

Madam Saturnia was a small, wiry witch of indeterminate age, fluffy hair surrounding her head like a dark halo, skin a little darker than Vi’s but her eyes a very pale blueish grey. It was so light, in fact, that the only hint she had pupils at all was the dark dot in the middle of her eyes and the slim rim around them, which was a darker shade of grey. Her manners were deliberate and thoughtful, yet at the same time keen and decisive, and her approach to Riko as a customer similarly efficient as that of Madam Abraxas, if less warm and more methodical. They got along well enough that way, decided Riko when she left the shop feeling very satisfied, all business and whatever fun came up did so on its own. 

At first she had of course enquired about the various kinds of pocket watches, the used materials, etcetera, pp. She didn’t want silver, yes, sure, she liked the way it looked and it was property-wise nicer than gold, a favourite almost, but not for an everyday item, thanks. This was when Madam Saturnia introduced her to the various kinds of cupronickel, nickel silver, electrum, claudianum, molybdochalcum, German silver, the opportunity to layer in platinum, etcetera, pp, and more. The witch seemed amused at Riko’s rudimentary grasp of metallurgy and imbuing and the matter of potential abilities she was interested in for her watch was discussed animatedly and practically. Stories about spells and equipment used by Explorers of both sides of reality had featured strongly over talk at mealtimes and Riko had a lot of questions, the answers to which often drew new questions.

Then Riko had asked how she would go about it if she wanted to give a friend the opportunity for such a great watch, too. After Madam Saturnia explained the whole deal of an actual waiting list and how long it currently was, Riko re-evaluated some of her thoughts on the gift. From what she could deduct from the very polite and rough rundown, Lord Malfoy had probably manhandled or otherwise convinced someone to relinquish their spot on that list. That couldn’t have been easy or anything else than very costly, no matter the currency. Probably more costly than the watch would be in the end.

This changed her focus thoroughly and Riko was very glad the watchmaker went along even when she couldn’t be overly pleased at the development. Madam Saturnia clearly wasn’t just a master of her art, it was what defined her, was her life. The idea of four basic, positively plain pocket watches instead of one entertaining piece that would turn into its very own sort of masterwork couldn’t please her much. She did accept though, only reserving the right to toy around a little with the wardings and add little tweaks here and there as she saw fit.

Then she started asking about the prospective owners, stressing both the fact that a watch was after all a very personal thing to have, no matter how basic, and also that she was of course well aware of the meaning of customer discretion. Riko was hesitant for a few more moments, exactly up to the point when Madam Saturnia mentioned very drily and circumspectly that she of course saw the person receiving the watch as the customer. The questions weren’t personal exactly, some astronomical stuff of born under what sign and stars, a bunch of preferences in food and colour and such, and then quite a list of different, hm, situational enquiries? But Madam Saturnia was so matter-of-fact about it that Riko let herself relax and answered readily and in a manner of detail and lacking her usual instinct for discretion that honestly surprised her, afterwards.

It was a rather smug Riko who joined her friends in the tearoom round the corner where they were busy having tea and practising their card tricks. They took her refusal to comment well enough and after they were collected again by Mr Eohyrde they spent a few more relatively restful days at the Latch. Well, relatively restful, as they still had all sorts of things to do, but it was still something they’d wishfully remember in the weeks to come.

They went back via Floo because why the hell not, seriously? Yes, riding the train could be fun, and it was officially required for the start of the year, but nobody had been very keen to get out of bed that early on Sunday. This way they didn’t have to worry about the Duck Squad, and Hagrid had said the gate was charmed to allow students, so they didn’t even have to take the tunnel from the Shrieking Shack, instead officially enjoying the fine weather. They even managed to drag Amy out for one last bout of impromptu Flying, before the rest of the students was back and their friend would be stuck in the hospital wing. She didn’t want people to see her as a cat-girl, which she hadn’t even said, as such, but not-said clear enough. Riko didn’t completely understand her reasons but didn’t push. Besides, Amy had to take hourly doses of potion and be checked afterwards, so it probably wouldn’t have been practical, anyway.

Otherwise their return to Hogwarts didn’t do anything for Riko’s mood. First there was the password to the lair that someone had decided to change to _pureblood_ . By Monday morning the Sunbeam informed them of a new password, _metamorphoses_ , but it lowered Riko’s tolerance of Draco so thoroughly on her first day that she learned nothing about his view of the odd Gryffindor infraction over the holidays. Next, Professor Snape informed her, via note of all things, that she was to have two weeks of detention with Lockhart, every single day in the evening, as if she had nothing else to do. And then there was the matter of radically improving her grades in all classes, which was not helped by how utterly uninteresting and tedious most of them seemed most of the time.

At least her new MCs were well-received, even if the started trend soon called that MCs of all concerned parties be played, which turned into a game of its own, depending on who was present when and were they native of the room or not and so on. Still, after the proper ritual of odd looks and cautious digging her roommates were soon tapping or wriggling toes, fingers and whatever else to the sounds of tricksy fiddles and cheery beats often enough to give her a reason to be there.

Theo was now in her classes, too, which made her feel odd enough already, because what was she to do with that now? Sit with her friends as usual or with her protégée? She opted for the first, he had to be his own person after all, though she did impress on him to please just ask, should he be unclear on anything at all. In stark contrast to most students, though not necessarily housemates, he’d come back from the holidays severely lacking in relaxation, and it was no easy matter to try and get him to ease up again. And as if that wasn’t already tiresome enough, the first full moon of the year was in the first week of classes.

Even better, aka worse, was that the zenith was round noon on Friday, which meant Edie was going to feel absolutely miserable for about three days, two of them filled with class. Oh, yes, and Amy was still not at classes because Madam Pomfrey refused to let her leave the hospital wing, insisting on close surveillance of her patient’s progress, and so couldn’t help. Riko was in enough of a surly mood to not feel bad at all about skipping class. First on Thursday afternoon, after Vi deposited Edie more or less forcefully at Madam Pomfrey’s, and then on Friday morning Riko pretended to be ill to her housemates only to then pretend to be Edie for the rest of the day. For the lessons she used a Glamour, keen to keep the unpleasant and not exactly easy-to-brew Polyjuice Potion for when it was really needed, namely to get into the Ravenclaw tower. It was only efficient, and worked out just fine and she could trade Vi the night to Saturday, as she really didn’t want to push her luck too much about being found missing by her house. 

There were a few bright spots in all this, too, of course, and, oddest of odd, one of them was her detention with Lockhart. Well, that was overstating it, but it really wasn’t bad, mostly she just had to address the envelopes of replies to his fans, or fill them with signed photographs of him smiling his rakish stage-smile. Lockhart himself alternated between pleasantly if oddly normal and occasional fits of his stage persona, spouting about heroic deeds of his or all the friends he’d made in his time or how much he treasured his devoted fans. The thing that actually cheered her a little and made her less inclined to think of him as another suspect was that he asked about Amy’s absence on the very first evening.

He’d sounded genuinely worried too, as if he hadn’t talked to the other teachers about it yet. Well, he had arrived rather late on Sunday evening, he said. Either way, when Riko mentioned, purposefully vague, an unfortunate mishap with an experimental potion he blinked, making an actual concerned, thoughtful face. It was covered quickly by his mask of overly pronounced sympathy, but it was there. When Riko visited her friend for dinner the very next day, in a hurry to drop off today’s incomprehensible Transfigs notes and be on time for her detention, there was a golden Get Well card on her bedside table, so flashy it absolutely had to be from him. Amy blushed a little and made to hide it under her pillow, but Riko only gave her a smile and a shrug.

Still, time seemed to mock them, or rather her, over the next, well, months really. The class periods and time needed for homework and coaching her protégée seemed to stretch until it felt like years while what little time she had with her friends seemed to fly away as seconds. It was just depressing. Amy had to stay in the hospital wing so damn _long_ , and there were just too many things they couldn’t do or even address when they visited her there. And Amy was going get _so_ out of practice in French and German! After all it wouldn’t be smart to advertise that and with how little time they were allowed to spend in there, the time they could hope to be unobserved was even less, this was just terrible!

Riko thanked all the fates that Vi made absolutely no mention of what they’d talked about that night before Edie’s birthday, though her friend was sometimes eyeing her rather thoughtfully. But even without having to worry about that part, the second term was grating on Riko’s nerves. It wasn’t as bad in Potions, but in Transfigs the lack of Amy was past unpleasant and neared disastrous.

There also had been a few changes in the timetable so that on Tuesday she had only one period of Binns in the afternoon followed with double Flying which was now Slytherin and Hufflepuff as opposed to last term’s Slytherin and Ravenclaw. That was actually nice, as it was fun to fly with Vi and Riko rarely got the chance for that. Her friend had a Nimbus 1700 and together they had enough fun that Madam Hooch actually rolled her eyes at them in a rather tolerant fashion. Seemed the ridiculously insistent tensions between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor were good for something at last, as it also gave Riko a free period on Mondays to tutor Theo without infringing on potential time with her friends and it split up the deadly double period of Binns and no, she wasn’t going to stop repeating that.

Yes, the price for that was the loss of a free first period on Wednesday, but really this only meant she could catch some shut-eye with her head on her desk, lulled into easy sleep by Binn’s droning, or ask Edie for last-minute-hints on Transfigs, a rather often scenario with Amy all but lost to the hospital wing. Well, or do any other quiet thing, which really meant to dig through whatever book was up at the time.

Beside that-all, integrating Theo into her year was another thing that kept Riko busy, and she repeatedly asked herself grumpily why she had ever agreed to his proposition. He was obviously intending to be a free element like Blaise, but he lacked the easy charisma to pull it off in the same relaxed manner. He also didn’t have the advantage of having been established as an equal already. He did well enough, mostly, rather more inclined to prickly or sly comments, as the mood took him, and he was a very good observer, but even so Riko had her hands full, backing him into occasional games of cards or Slytherin’s Wizarding Chess, but not dice, ever, as he plain out told her he would rather get pushed into the lake, which illustrated her point nicely, she thought.

He did like the chess, though, all variations, and also shogi, which was nice to play occasionally, alright. But, again true to form, with _all_ of those he needed, far too often for how smart he was, reminding that the objective was _not_ _necessarily_ to win the game in the most efficient way, seriously, sometimes he was _such_ a Ravenclaw. She thought about it one night and came to the conclusion that Theo took up about as much time as her homework and detentions with Lockhart. It was sort of depressing.

All of this combined meant that in the first weeks, the entire first month really, the Untouchables didn’t get to explore or even properly research at all. Not even during the Quidditch match Ravenclaw vs Slytherin on the last Saturday of January, which they spent with Amy in the hospital wing. None of them, least of all Riko, were interested in watching the embarrassingly foul-ridden play of the Slytherin team. But afterwards, over the next two weeks, things started to let up a little at long bloody last.

Imbolc was nice, for one, and the days were growing longer, which was always a good thing, and then Amy was at last allowed to leave the hospital wing. Riko was so glad she swept her friend in a crushing hug when the girl arrived down for her first breakfast in the Great Hall on Thursday. Amy blushed a brilliant burnt-brick sunset red and sputtered about air and breakfast, but she looked rather pleased. Riko was in a humming good mood the entire day, whistling happily even during Herbology while McDougal was still eyeing her like a dangerous beast. She’d seen Ginny around the hallways a few times with a blonde girl by her side, and the young Weasley had even waved and grinned at her once, raising a hand with a small compass. Clearly Riko was superior in the people-department.

Also, they could now have a great big discussion about what to do and research, later that day, including the possibility of Lockhart somehow being mixed up in it, but it got them nowhere. Riko could attest that he seemed a decent enough person, if a little odd with his bouts of celebrity behaviour, and although she didn’t care much for his books they did have a number of correct details so he couldn’t be a complete fraud.

“But how do we really know that,” had Edie asked, rationally and not at all confrontational in an even tone that managed to not trigger Amy, who was embarrassedly but tenaciously defensive about the Defence-teacher.

“Well, for example about the Yetis. I was in Tibet some years ago and got actually introduced to three Yetis living near a rather remote hamlet, and the account he gives is pretty much spot on,” Riko pointed out.

“Besides, someone whose ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magical and non-magical people can hardly be a bad sort,” argued Amy.

“And he does seem to get along very well with the house elves, treats them same as he does everyone else,” added Riko, remembering Philly.

“That may well be, but there’s still a lot of nonsense in his books. Just look at Wandering with Werewolves, where he says he uses the Homorphus charm to return the wolf to his normal form. That charm doesn’t exist, I looked everywhere after I read it,” said Edie.

“Also, homorphus is completely mixed up, root-wise, if he really wanted to use it the way he says in the book. Morphe means shape in Greek but homos means similar. If he wanted homo as human then it’d be Latin and you can’t just mix up languages inside an incantation, that’s utterly unstable and whatnot..” Vi waved her hand distractedly at the details but Riko was fascinated.

“I did have a tutor before coming here and there’s loads of Greek used in all sorts of spells,” added her friend as if that settled everything and Riko decided if Vi wanted it to then it did.

“Well, but it also depends on how he learned it and how he uses his magic, doesn’t it,” said Amy, and they all had to admit she had a point. That was after all the way they were practising and learning their wandless magic.

“If he’s mostly self-taught, as he sometimes says, then that could explain it,” agreed Riko, “I mean, he was definitely not in Hogwarts, and I think he isn’t from Britain at all. And Professor Snape did say something about him being big in improvisation, back on Hallowe’en.”

“How do you know he wasn’t at Hogwarts? And why’d you think he’s foreign,” asked Amy with a light frown.

“Well, usually, in my house, there’ll be someone who knows all about any person of interest, or knows them personally, or knows someone who does, but not with him,” shrugged Riko easily. “And when I asked him about where he’d been, cause, well, I wasn’t going to be so crass to just ask him where he’s from, the way he described them I think he might be from New Zealand, or maybe the South of the States.”

That got her a few strange stares, but her friends didn’t argue, trusting her word. Vi was having that thoughtful look in her eyes again and Riko looked away, changing the subject. Right now was not a good time to drop her pointless and probably upsetting history on her friends, the full moon in just a few days and still so much to do. Still, things were definitely looking up. The general mood, which had been very tense at the start of the term with people still stuck with their heads up their asses and all the idiocy of last year in their heads, improved as the sun started to really shine again on the castle. The lack of further attacks had let tempers even out over the last weeks, too.

Well, some tempers at least, but what did Riko care for one idiot Ravenclaw’s opinion, after all? And if Macmillan was still convinced Potter was the heir, plotting everyone’s doom, certainly helped along by the occasional performance of Peeves and his “Potter, you rotter” routine, what was it to her? She had better things to do, and think on, for example this month’s full moon which was going to be very peaceful, well, as far as that could ever be said.  It’s zenith fell just shortly before midnight between Saturday to Sunday, so Edie would be turned only a few hours and miss none of her lessons, even if the weekend was of course a lost cause. It was Vi’s turn to be Edie and the weather was starting to be mild enough that Amy and Riko could rather comfortably look after their friend from outside the Shrieking Shack without warming charms. After all the stress the winter had brought it was like a sign that things were finally looking.

Then, after a night of Edie-sitting, blinking owlishly into her breakfast at her own table after some two hours of sleep, max, Amy on Gryffindor table looking equally tired, and Vi being a rested Edie on Ravenclaw table, Riko spied Theo staring at her with his flattest, most discerning look of suspicion. She pretended to not see it and he caught himself quickly when he noticed her starting to officially look in his direction, but the matter burrowed into her brain. What the bloody hell was going on now? Was there really no sanity to be had here, in this crazed castle, ever?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Graveworthy and his "The Two Kneazles" are born of copperbadge, though I think we may imagine different tales behind the title/author. Dunno if I cited it yet, so, done, again ^_^;  
> oh, also the homorphus spell and its roots are by copperbadge, I think it was in Stealing Harry that it came up.


	16. Secret-Carriers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The amount of secrets in and around the castle is absurd, even if some are coincidental and some have nothing to do with anything except their keepers - if that is really the case, that is. In any case it is a bother and not helpful in the least, not that it’s going to stop the Untouchables from doing their thing, but it is a terrible drag on their resources..

Once she’d noticed, Riko realized Theo was doing it constantly, the paranoid watching of her, and it was down-right shocking how she hadn’t noticed it before. It also made absolutely no sense and was a giant downer just when she’d thought thing were starting to look up. She kept turning it over and over in her head, trying to get some clues or ideas on the matter over the next few days, but when she at last properly met with her fellow Untouchables on Thursday, Riko was still stumped. And also in a right temper.

“I just don’t get it, seriously, _what_ is going on with that twerp and just how damn long _has_ it been going on? Am I completely losing my touch here? Have you been replaced by polyjuiced copies and I haven’t caught on or something? Argh!”

She fell back dramatically onto the couch and kicked moodily at her bag which turned out to be out of range. It made her sigh tiredly and let her head fall back while the others watched with amusement. At least something that could be taken as a good thing, she thought absently.

“Well, now that you found our secret we’ll have to kill you, of course,” came Vi’s dry reply from her side and then she whacked Riko in the head with one of Edie’s imported Ravenclaw cushions.

“Woe! Attack of the bodysnatchers! What have you done to them? Return them at once!” cried Riko valiantly, after spitting out a mouthful of cushion, and with many cries of “Villain!” and “Surrender now and be spared!” a giant battle of cushions and tackling and tickling and general insanity erupted. It felt great and settled her mind, which had admittedly started to run in circles and right into the ground.

“You could just ask him, you know,” suggested Amy lightly when they all sank down on the couch again, slightly out of breath.

Riko thought about that for a while. She’d thought about it before today, admittedly, but never with the real intent of doing it. It had always seemed the most unreliable way. After all, if she hadn’t caught on when it started, what chance did she have to know if he was being really honest now?

Her trust in the cueroscope in that regard was close to non-existent, after all it hadn’t helped so far, had it? But then, what else was there to do? Simply watching back hadn’t given the slightest clue, all her word plays and whatnot hadn’t got her even one helpful reaction. Theo had simply retreated further and further to his distanced, proper behaviour and it was driving her nuts. He didn’t seem to enjoy it, either, so the usual Slytherin solutions clearly weren’t doing the trick here. Well, that was probably the problem already, getting too caught up in perceived habits. After all, didn’t Slytherins use any means to achieve their ends? And Professor Snape had used blunt and direct, too.

“Y’know, Amy, I think you’re right,” declared Riko. “I mean, of course you’re right, yup, that’s what I’ll do. Hah. What’s the worst that can happen? He might’ve been tricking me the entire time, but hey, I bet he won’t expect me to just ask him...” and she nodded to herself, glaring at her stretched out feet over her crossed arms.

There was a short, thoughtful silence, then they all had pretty much the same idea.

“Riko, you don’t think.. he’s a first year..” said Amy but from the sound of her voice she was ready to think it, too.

“The Notts are all up with the whole proper pureblood mania, though,” added Vi thoughtfully.

“Yeah, it was some Nott that wrote that ridiculous Pure-Blood Directory, going on about Sacred Twenty-Eight familiy lines and whatnot. Completely nuts, you can tell from the wording already, not to mention the content,” said Riko, waving her hand distractedly at her friends looks. “Adjacent research, came up, my head hardly ever loses anything..”

“You mean I’ve been lending my notes to the bloody heir?” asked Edie warily. “Do we have anything actually tying him to this, or are we just macmillaning?”

There was silence again and Riko knew they were waiting for her to say something helpful. She thought hard.

“Well,” she said, then paused. “He’s sharp, yeah, and I did teach him a bit of a notice-me not, before Hallowe’en, so he _could_ have left the Great Hall without drawing attention even then. If he really couldn’t, before. But he still dislikes Malfoy, bit less now, but still..”

“That might explain why he didn’t want Malfoy’s help, though, right?” said Edie, and was of course right.

“Well, I can’t say anything about his whereabouts during the attacks, I wasn’t in the lair for even one of them, I think,” said Riko. “So, from that point of view it could just as well be me who’s the heir. And even if he wasn’t seen there at the times it doesn’t say anything, either, with the way he likes to stay out of everyone’s attention.”

“Riiight,” came Vi’s dry reply. “I think we might’ve noticed if it was you.”

“Well, perhaps you did and were replaced by bodysnatchers afterwards,” replied Riko with a teasing grin, only to be hit in the head by a cushion again.

“Riko! Be serious! What if it is him? You said he was real smart..” said Amy with clear worry in her tone.

“Yes, I said real smart, but wouldn’t that make it less likely for him to be the heir? I mean, whoever it is seems rather, well, not quite there..” she pointed out, because, seriously, who in their right mind..?

“Sane or not hasn’t necessarily got much to do with smart, you know,” said Vi very drily then and Riko twitched internally at her friend’s utterly matter-of-fact tone.

She knew, yes, and clearly this was a matter of personal experience for Vi, and she didn’t even have to do a lot of guessing to get a load of ugly pictures. Resolutely, she took a deep breath, shook her head to return to the present and handle it, fuck it all. “Alright, I guess I’ll find out soon enough,” Riko said with an equally matter-of-fact voice, and that was that.

Neither Amy nor Edie suggested going to a teacher first, though they were clearly worried, and Riko gave them a big grin and reassuring thumbs-up for it when they parted. And now she was standing obscured in the antechamber to her own damn common room and carefully not thinking. There were leads and signs, if you looked at it with enough paranoia, but then, if you looked with enough paranoia there were always going to be leads and signs. So. No overthinking. Just go and do it, like Amy said, just ask him. See where it leads.

Squaring her shoulders, Riko went and did just that. Theo was sitting in what Riko had taken to calling her or their corner, with a book and a notice-me-not charm. As usual. A rather thick book that didn’t really look like their normal subjects, also as usual, but again, paranoia, her own book list, etcetera. Well, there were only two ways this could go, and both would go over better with some privacy.

“Hey there,” grinned Riko drily, already sitting in her usual place.

He still hadn’t gotten over the jerking in shock and he did blanch rather obviously. Odd. He also didn’t answer, only looking at her with a completely flat face. Oh ye gods and spirits, not that again.

“Alright, we need to talk and I will now activate a privacy ward that is stored in this pebble here, you got that?”

A stiff nod, his face still a completely flat mask. Well, great. She activated Vi’s ward, simply tapping the small piece of granite with her wand and hoping absently her friend would teach it to her soon. It was really nifty, spreading out like an uncoiling spiral, slithering over them like a light current and settling in a circle around them before fading from sight. Theo looked tense enough to pull a nerve, or simply pull, be it a wand or whatever-else. Fantastic. Good that Vi had made a few suggestions.

With a short annoyed sigh, Riko laid her wand in the middle of the table so that it marked an even divide between them, handle to the left as she was officially right-handed. Theo looked confused but still tense, even nervous. Riko allowed herself a dry smile and enjoyed the calm spreading inside her. It was so nice to always have a way to find your calm centre, just by getting into some action or other, really. She had just offered him the traditional terms of a parley. With her hands neatly folded on the table, the ball was in his court now. The realization didn’t exactly seem to calm him down, but he gave a jerky nod, drew himself up and put his wand on the table as tradition demanded. Then he stared at her again, and if it wasn’t completely ridiculous she’d have thought he looked terrified for a moment. The silence stretched until she gave another annoyed sigh and tiled her head.

“What is your problem, Theo?”

If he had stared before, he now positively gaped. It made a nice change to the taut, sharp lines of his face as of late, but it didn’t give her much information. She waited a little and was rewarded with an incredulous, almost hysterical answer.

“What is my problem? _My_ problem? Sl.. Riko, _you_ just threw a parley in my face, and then you ask me what _my_ bloody problem is? Are you insane?”

There was no denying it, he was actually scared, it almost bowled her over, clearly she was missing something. Was he really the heir and scared because he thought she found him out? More reason to tread carefully, fantastic. Well, best just go for it.

“Theo, you’ve been acting increasingly paranoid around me for a while and I am trying to find out the reason. You’re right, it’s not only your problem but you seem to be affected worse, so I think my wording holds up. So. What is wrong?”

It was like channelling Edie, which fit nicely to her overall calm, and it might help at least a little in drawing Theo into an actual conversation.

“What is.. I’m not.. you.. you wouldn’t..”

Well, perhaps not. She waited patiently while he drew himself up again, collected himself. Looked at her as if he were calculating the chance of surviving the next minute and coming to a bad result, then decided to ignore it.

“What do you know about my family?” he asked after a while in his best ice-cold neutral tone.

Riko drew up an eyebrow but refused to think too much on the question in context of this afternoon’s talk. Tilting her head lightly, she answered in a calm, even tone. “The Notts are one of the so-called Sacred Twenty-Eight pureblood families, a term coined in the Pure-Blood Directory, which is still considered a main guide on.. pureblood stuff. Supposedly it was written by a Nott, though officially it has no author. Well, and I know you’re a Nott and that you’re from around Lamorna somewhere in Cornwall.”

She offered a light shrug and smile, but it seemed to have little effect. It was odd to realize she did indeed not know anything else about him, his family, or his circumstances. But, well, he was always very tight-lipped on the subject and she had her own habits of not poking, faery courtesy, and hadn’t taken the time to look him up in her copy of Nature’s Nobility. Well, who knew where in her trunk it was. Still, she didn’t even know his birthday. Riko saw him take a deep, even breath then he said very quickly in an entirely emotionless voice.

“My mother was a mudblood.” He clamped his jaw shut and looked at her with wild eyes.

Riko looked back, confused, uncomprehending, and forcibly ignoring the word. “Er, alright,” she said after a few uncomfortable moments of silence, when it became obvious he wasn’t going to say anything else. “What has that to do with anything? Least of all your paranoia?”

It was clearly the wrong thing to say entirely, as he shot her a look of vicious anger and, oddly enough, insulted dignity. He crossed his arms, but looked otherwise completely controlled when he spoke.

“I know, alright? I know all about you, but you didn’t go after Slytherins so I kept quiet, and I owe you anyway, but don’t take me for an idiot.”

It took a full blink to actually, properly digest what he’d said, well, meant, and another to rearrange everything in her mind so that she could actually look at it all from this new perspective. It was quite frankly disturbing how completely logical it all seemed. Just went to show, didn’t it, paranoia and all that. Riko couldn’t help it, really, she started laughing. Well, more like the laughter just suddenly erupted from somewhere under her lungs, making her lean back in the chair and throw her head back. After a while she had to draw breath, leaning forward and fighting the giggles to draw air. Also, to try and regain some control, because Theo seemed ready to make a good attempt at killing her with looks only.

“Ah, ouch, oh ye gods, sorry, heehee.. damnit all, ah, sorry, Theo, but I’m really not,” Riko managed at last, quickly waving her hand at his enraged indraw of breath. “No really, honestly, I’ll give you an oath, blasted shite, I guess I really was too clammed up to not have you know it, but I really don’t give a single, solitary sliver, har-dee-har, of the last, lonesome fuck about any of that pureblood stuffiness. I mean, really, what do you know about my family, eh?”

At his frozen expression, she gave a sigh and leaned to lightly touch her wand, stating easily, “I, Kaminariko Arsenia Slyver, swear on my magic that I’m not the heir of Slytherin, nor in any way active or supportive in that capacity or notion.”

Drawing back, she gave him an expectant look over the bright silvery glow that was now dissipating around her wand. He looked at her in a way that probably, now that she thought on it, mirrored her own when he’d asked what she knew of his family.

“The Slyver family is ancient, some sources indicate ties to Slytherin, others say the name derives from either silva, smilax, or smyrna in Latin, from the Roman Empire, and by the Black Sea before,” he recited, pausing just a moment before continuing evenly. “They were famous for valuing purity of blood and for having a certain pull. Then they disappeared a few years ago and, well, you’re a Slyver.”

He gave her a light shrug and looked uncomfortable. Despite her amusement at his etymological research, such a Theo thing to do, Riko felt suddenly very tired. Looking back she shouldn’t be surprised, she thought. Tony had little reason to be helpful at the time, what with their temporary cold war. She had simply assumed Theo had caught the story Tony had so obligingly managed in first year, but either the people Theo had asked hadn’t thought highly enough of him to tell him or they had simply never cared for it and-or hadn’t known. Assumptions, fuck it all.

“Yeah well, I’m the end of the line, so to speak. See, they didn’t really approve of my father’s choice of free-lance life or his.. blood traitor ways,” she managed to not spit the last few words, but still reigned herself in with an even breath. “They attacked our estate in Japan when I was six, almost seven, and learned they shouldn’t have. Well, learn is perhaps a bit much, as they’re all dead now.”

She gave a distracted wave with her hand at the last part, to mark it clearly as no big deal. A shrug just wouldn’t have worked with her shoulders as tense as that. Riko knew her eyes were not particularly.. civil, that was probably the right word, so she looked over his shoulder, resettling her jaw and drawing in a fresh breath. “My mother’s colouring, y’know,” she added with more lightness and a small smirk, waving at herself and looking him in the face again.

He blinked, clearly still gathering his thoughts and composure, but then he tilted his head and gave her a small smile. “Alright, sorry, you can take me for an idiot now,” he said ruefully and she could see his entire face colouring with embarrassment.

It cleared her mood in less than a second, a smile tugging at her lips. Now just one more thing to make absolutely certain, for he _had_ talked truth so far.

“Ah, hey, fair enough, I’d say, if you can give me same oath back that is,” she winked at him, giving him a sheepish smile and shrug.

He looked about as bowled over for a moment as she had felt just earlier and, after a short bout of laughing his ass off, he did. They shook hands over the table, sharing a wide grin, and took their wands again. That settled, they talked quite a while, interrupted by laughter of variant kinds again and again, before Riko pocketed the small stone again and they made off to their respective rooms. And, long story in short, from then on they were, well, not friends, exactly, they were both too similarly Slytherin, but friendly in a way that held. Apparently thinking each other the heir of Slytherin and still managing to be civil would do that.

The other Untouchables took the news mostly with relief. It would have been great to have caught the heir, but it was also good Riko hadn’t unknowingly been helping said heir. And besides, was it really still a problem? They had been no further attacks, and small wonder. It had to be increasingly risky to act, they knew the teachers were still patrolling the corridors at night. It also wouldn’t be long now until the Mandrakes were ready, and the petrified students were bound to know who or what had attacked them.

Professor Sprout had said the plants were already becoming moody and secretive, meaning they were fast leaving childhood. It seemed an odd thing to say. Firstly, they just were in their pots, weren’t they, and secondly all the Untouchables were in some way secretive and moody, but they were still officially children. But then, they were people and not plants and really, what what did Riko know of it?

“Soon as their acne clears up they’ll be wanting to move out so we’ll be re-potting them,” told them Professor Sprout cheerfully during class today, “and then it won’t be long until we’re cutting them up and stewing them.. ah, no, don’t you worry, dears, re-potting will be for the fourth-years this time. You’ll see, everyone will be good as new in no time..”

Amy looked torn at the news. It was of course good that the students be cured, but weren’t the Mandrakes also alive and was it really right to just chop them to pieces just because they weren’t kids any more? It was a very Amy thing to think and luckily Edie was experienced enough at handling it, going very book-quotish and fellow-swottish and in no way appearing to be making light of the matter.

Either way, it was good to at long bloody last start their exploring again. There was admittedly still a lot to do, monstrous amounts of homework that made last year look like holidays, and their usual trainings and languages, and they had to set up a second batch of Polyjuice to be sure it didn’t run out, and it had been ages since they’d played any sort of prank, but now that Riko was free of her detention and with what Theo required in tutoring going so much easier than before and Amy being back, well, of course they were going to get back into the game. They didn’t get up to much in the next few days, just a few minor pranks for general entertainment of the populace and really enjoying each other’s company, but then, on Sunday, chance decided to give them a set of matches, so to speak.

Over the course of the last week, Lockhart had made numerous, well, performances, really, claiming to have solved the matter and stopped the attacks. Riko thought he certainly had guts to claim such a thing, and to McGonagall’s face, too, as he was bending her ear while she waited for them to file into the classroom on Wednesday.

“I’m quite sure there won’t be any more trouble, Minerva,” he’d declared smugly, tapping his nose and giving her a knowing wink the stern Transfiguration Professor completely ignored. “This time, I dare say the Chamber’s been locked for good. Surely the culprit knew it was only a matter of time before I got to them and stopped to avoid getting caught.”

McGonagall only gave him another utterly unimpressed look, her lips pressed into a thin, disapproving line, but he went on, blithely ignoring her foul temper. “You know what, I think those kids really need a morale booster,” he stated confidently, and there was a current of seriousness in his voice that had made Riko remember the exchange. “Get rid of the troubles of last term, y’know. I think I know just the thing for that..”

And he’d been back to his bumbling persona, striding off with his usual flashy flair, waving cheerfully left and right, throwing his ultra-white mega-watt smiles all over the place. And at breakfast time on Sunday they learned what he had come up with. It was truly very Lockhart, but then, it _was_ Valentine’s Day, Riko had to admit that.

Last year it had been just another day and she’d wasted no thought on it, only vaguely noticed the occasional giving of gifts all over the school. Today the Great Hall was very obviously affected. The walls were all covered with large, luridly pink flowers and heart-shaped confetti was falling from the pale blue ceiling that heralded a surprisingly good weather outside.

The Untouchables had met late at the Hufflepuff table after last night’s exploring and were watching with bewilderment the goings-on. Lockhart was wearing a set of neon pink robes to match the decorations and, while they were still staring owlishly over the rims of their tea mugs, he stood and waved for silence. The teachers around him looked stony-faced and from where she sat, not their usual place closest to the door, Riko could see Professor Snape’s jaw grind and a muscle twitching in McGonagall’s cheek.

“Happy Valentine’s Day!” Lockhart shouted. The Hall, that had been filled with rather more chattering, groans and giggling than usual fell silent.

“Now, first, I want to thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards! It is much appreciated, I assure you!” he again aimed his big, dashing megawatt smile at the entire student population. “I am very glad I could arrange this little surprise for you all, and even more pleased to announce it doesn’t end there, oh no!”

Lockhart clapped his hands and into the Great Hall marched a dozen surly-looking dwarfs. Who were wearing golden wigs and carrying harps. Somehow, it fit the entire weird scene, although Vi almost choked on her tea and Edie gaped a bit like a fish.

“My friendly, card-carrying cupids!” beamed Lockhart. “They will be roving around the school today delivering your Valentines! And I’m sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you’re at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I’ve ever met, the sly old dog!”

Professor Flitwick buried his face in his hands. Professor Snape was looking as though the first person to ask him for a Love Potion would be force-fed poison and Dumbledore was not at the table to stop him. The Untouchables shared a look of wide eyes over the returning muttering in the Hall.

“So, Amy, can we assume you’re one of those forty-six people then?” Edie said after a few moments with a sly smile. Amy answered with only a shrug and a light blush, mumbling after few moments something about “only returning a favour.”

“Right, he sent you one to the hospital wing, so of course you had to,” nodded Riko agreeably, grinning innocently. “What did you do with it anyway? I only saw it the once and I don’t even know what it said..”

“Well, that’s because it’s my card and you realize the value of privacy,” shrugged Amy with a small smile and continued rather drily, “And I put it away after Ron just grabbed it. I’d just put it under my pillow when they came in to visit, but it wasn’t hidden well enough, apparently..”

There wasn’t much to be said to that, which had probably been her intent, and they went back to planning their day with the new tool they’d just been handed. After all, wasn’t this just the perfect way to deliver all sorts of fitting err, greetings to all sorts of odious people? It turned into a long and entertaining day; the Weasley twins had had the same thought and soon others caught on to it as well. The dwarfs seemed most inclined toward limericks, the wilder the better, and when they separated in the evening the Untouchables were not the only ones in a right fantastic mood.

Next morning Amy looked more tense and upset than Monday merited, but Riko only had one period of Potions with her and there was only so much communication to be had over a bubbling cauldron with Professor Snape gliding round the room like a grumpy, sleep-starved bat. It was something about Hagrid, but Amy didn’t seem to want to say any more, looking worriedly around, clearly fearing to be overheard. The two free periods until they could meet at least shortly felt like forever, and after a while Riko started a list titled _things I just recalled instead of getting on with my insanely tedious Transfigs homework_. Seeing how they were all seated on the big study table in the common room she wrote in Metarikana, enjoying both Theo’s short look of curiosity and his following, very polite not looking again.

The list filled more quickly than her homework but at least some progress could be made now that she could catch the distractions as they appeared and bind them to not be lost again. That was the one good thing when you really had to finish Transfigs: you could count on your brain bringing up everything else you had forgotten in the time before, just to try and stop you from going insane or getting finished. When she hurried off, just before last period was to end, mumbling something about the library, Theo only gave a tolerant “yeah, yeah” and waved her off. He really was a good protégée and it was a good thing he wasn’t the heir. If only she didn’t have to finish this stupid essay for McGonagall tomorrow, what could be so bad that Amy was so paranoid?

*

“Harry thinks it was Hagrid,” said Amy, first thing after coming in, not even sitting down on the couch.

She was pacing, raking her hands through her wild bushy curls and, excepting the two splashes of burnt brick colouring her cheekbones with upset, her dark skin was pale with nerves. The other Untouchables gaped at her. Surely she didn’t mean what they thought this sentence might mean..?

“Alright, it’s like this.. a while ago, Harry found an old diary, someone tried to flush it down Myrtle’s toilet, and by old I mean fifty years old, so of course we thought it might be helpful, seeing how the chamber was open fifty years ago and all. But there was nothing in it, we tried a few different things.. anyway, we thought it was useless but Harry kept it in his bag and then yesterday he found a way to get into it..” Amy took a deep breath and kept on pacing, clenching her hands behind her and nervously biting her lips for a moment, before she monologued on. “He got one of those dwarf after him yesterday, near the library, and when he tried to escape, because there was Malfoy hanging around and Ginny, too, and anyway, his bookbag ripped and his ink bottle smashed and drenched the book but when he looked at it in the evening it was empty, not a drop of ink in it. So he wrote in it and it ate the ink and then it answered..”

“And the book said Hagrid did it?” Riko asked, sceptically. “What did he even write, Potter I mean? And did it say whose diary it was?”

“Oh, yes, well, it says T.M. Riddle on the first page, and he did exist, he’s got an award for special services to the school in the trophy room, from fifty years ago, and a Medal for Magical Merit, and he was on the list of head boys,” waved Amy away distractedly, “Anyway, he showed Harry his memory of the night he caught, well, Hagrid. At the time he’d asked to stay at school over the summer because he didn’t want to go back to his muggle orphanage, his name’s Tom Marvolo Riddle and he was a half-blood and his mother died just after his birth but the headmaster of then, Dippet, said he couldn’t do that, and that Hogwarts was about to be closed anyway because of the girl that died and nobody knew anything about what was going on. But Riddle actually had a clue somehow so he went and hid in some corridor in the dungeons and followed Hagrid and Hagrid was trying to get a monster to crawl into a big crate to get it out but Riddle confronted him and tried to capture it but then it burst from that cupboard it had been hiding in and it was a giant spider and it ran away and when Riddle tried to cast something after it Hagrid jumped him to stop him, saying it hadn’t killed anyone..”

That was quite a lot to digest and Amy was visibly exhausted after her rushed tale so they couldn’t immediately poke thousand questions at her anyway. Riko tried looking at it every-which way and found it very odd. The monster was supposed to be a giant spider? That didn’t seem to make sense, especially not if it had been with Hagrid. And were there any spiders that petrified people? Well, it might explain why spiders had been fleeing the castle, but..

“If Hagrid said it didn’t harm anyone, shouldn’t we believe him? I mean, it did run away, didn’t it, not attack. It could have been a different monster..” said Riko at last.

“I thought Riddle might’ve got the wrong person, too, but Ron said there couldn’t well be that many monsters here and he sort of has a point, I mean, territory and all that.” answered Amy miserably. “And Harry did meet Hagrid in Knockturn Alley when he had a Floo accident in the summer, landed in Borgin and Burkes and almost ran into Malfoy and his father there, too..”

“Well, there’s at least one discorporeal reptile here, and with the giant spider being less likely, what with Potter and Riko both being witness for one while we only have a fifty-year old second hand account of a diary of someone we don’t really know for the other.. I’m sceptical, too,” threw in Edie thoughtfully.

“Besides, Hagrid was allowed to stay at the school after he was thrown out, wasn’t he, and he’s not in Azkaban either?” said Vi. “And if it had been him and his monster then it all wouldn’t have stopped and Riddle wouldn’t ’ve got his award..”

It was an oddly backwards argument, but it made absolute sense. Also, “Do you really think Dumbledore’d have allowed Hagrid to stay if he’d been responsible for another student’s death?” asked Riko dubiously. “Not that I really believe, he was.. we need to look up spiders.. and walking down Knockturn Alley isn’t a crime, either way.”

“Dumbledore’s famous for giving second or even first chances nobody else would even consider,” said Edie tonelessly, sounding very unhappy to know this fact so personally right now.

“And Hagrid was a Gryffindor, right, and Dumbledore’s got a thing for his old house, doesn’t he?” remarked Vi in an equally unhappy voice.

“I know it’s not a crime to be in Knockturn, Hagrid was buying flesh-eating slug repellent. And the headmaster wouldn’t be unfair about house matters..” protested Amy, but it didn’t sound entirely convinced, only a little hurt.

Riko immediately felt bad for not being able to dispel her friend’s doubts, but she wasn’t sure how else to see last year’s spontaneous turnabout in regards to the house cup and the arbitrary change of the end-of-year feast and..

“Well, we could just ask him,” she said instead.

It had, after all, worked very well with Theo, and the last time they had tried to be discreet about their questions Hagrid had just shut up entirely. Blunt might work better, with him a Gryffindor, it was how they’d learned about Norbert, too.

“Alright, when?” asked Amy after a few moments of silence, determination heavy in her voice.

“Thursday should be good, after fourth. I can send Korra with a note if he’s got time,” offered Riko.

And that was that. Riko wasn’t quite sure, afterwards, what exactly she’d been doing in the days leading to their talk with Hagrid. She’d followed her routines, of course, but she was so absent-minded that she even botched Wednesday’s Charms practice, not to mention Transfigs, where she soon stopped really trying because whenever she did she only set things on fire.

“So, did you let a giant spider out of the chamber of secrets and get a student killed before you were expelled fifty years ago?” asked Riko, very calmly, once they had got the usual pleasantries out of the way and were all sitting around Hagrid’s big scrubbed wood table with big mugs of tea.

In the resounding silence that followed the fire seemed very loud. All the colour had drained from Hagrid’s face and he stared at her with open-mouthed horror for long moments, completely frozen.

“Don’t worry, we won’t tell either way,” she added, when it seemed he was too shocked to say anything. “And it’s not something people talk about, so you needn’t worry about that either.”

“How d’ya.. I.. no, I never..” stammered Hagrid, obviously still very shaken. It was very obviously true, Riko wouldn’t even have needed her cueroscope to know that.

“So there was your spider and an unknown monster running round the school at the time,” clarified Riko, just to be sure. “And of course nobody believed that and so they kicked you out. And then you were allowed to stay and become ground keeper,” she continued, hoping to lead the subject to things that were a bit safer and might let Hagrid relax a little. He looked about ready to be ill.

“Aye.. Dumbledore convinced ’em, great man, him..” said Hagrid, still looking a bit faint but obviously fortified by being able to praise the headmaster.

Which, considering his history, was hardly surprising. Riko decided to shelf any questions about Azkaban until he looked a bit better though, after all the chamber and info on it was more important right now. Clearly Amy thought so, too.

“That means you were here when it all happened! Hagrid, do you have any clues or hints or anything you remember? Did people get petrified, too? How did the girl die? Were there any things that were the same as this time? Was there also the graffiti?”

She looked ready to fire another dozen or so questions, but Hagrid clearly wasn’t ready to hear them. He set his mug down with a loud clatter and took a deep breath with closed eyes tight, collecting himself. When he opened them again, he looked very serious and also very Gryffindor. Positively McGonagall, which was an utterly ill-fitting and disturbing sight on his usually so good-natured and open face.

“Yer still lookin’ fer clues, are ye mad? D’ye _want_ to be attacked, or get into even worse trouble’n just afore Yule? Ye’re students, ye’re supposed ter learn, not try and get yerselves murdered fer no good at all!”

“We’re not doing anything to get murdered, Hagrid,” answered Riko in what she hoped to be a calm, reassuring tone. This development was so out of character for their friendly keeper of creatures and beasts they hadn’t even thought of it. Bit embarrassing in hindsight.

“We’re just worried and trying to help, and we did find out all of this, didn’t we, and without getting into trouble, too,” defended Amy.

“You’re way more likely to get into trouble than us, y’know. What d’you think will happen if there’s any more attacks? They’ll come straight for you, finding the real monster is in your best interest, too,” pointed Vi out very matter-of-factly.

“And we’re not doing anything to get us into trouble, we’re very careful and all,” added Edie calmly. “We just want to help and you’re our friend..”

“Some friend I am!” Hagrid rumbled, clearly not reassured at all. “Letting yeh get dragged into my mess. Ye’re jest kids, yeh can’t help me, ye’ll only get yerself hurt or killed and I won’t have it!”

“Hagrid, seriously, please calm down,” tried Riko again, growing seriously worried at the extent of his reaction, heck, his hair was shifting as if electrified, like Amy’s sometimes did when she was about to let loose. She’d never seen that on Hagrid, and with his size it was right shocking.

“Calm down?! Ye haven’t got any idea, ye’re good kids, ye can’t imagine what ye’re getting into. If anybody thinks ye’re mixed up in this, it’ll be straight to Azkaban!” Hagrid choked on the word, wringing his hands in great distress. “I was a year older’n you and I thought I was gonna die there.. ye can’t.. I’m not gonna..”

“You didn’t, though,” threw Riko in quickly, thrown and getting a bit desperate at Hagrids rising panic. “You didn’t die, and Dumbledore got you out, and now you’re master of the keys and grounds and all. And you didn’t let us get dragged into anything, we found out ourselves. And if you think we’ll just leave you hanging you’re daft and I know you’re really not. So calm down and drink some tea. Please?”

Perhaps it was the mention of tea. In her experience, distressed people often could be snapped out of their tracks to doom by an innocuous statement that came from completely out of the left field, which was why Riko liked using it. Well, it was also entertaining, but that was quite beside the point now. Hagrid seemed to calm a little, going even so far as to raise his mug and take a giant swallow of tea. Then he looked them over, again very serious and disturbingly McGonagall.

“Alright,” he rumbled, and for a moment Riko felt the warm glow of relief in her guts at his booming voice. And then he had to go and ruin it all.

“Ye’re good kids and you’ll thank me for it some time,” he said, standing up. “Ye’ll stop this nonsense ’fore ye get into any more trouble, ’cause if ye don’t, I.. I’ll make sure the headmaster and yer heads of house learn of it and put a stop to it any way they see fit. I dunno what ye think ye can do when Dumbledore ’imself is stumped, but it’s going to stop.”

He silenced their immediate protests by simply talking over them. “Do we understand each other?” he said. “If I catch any wind ye’re still hunting clues or whatever ye’re doing, I’ll make sure ye’re stuck in detention fer th’ rest o’ th’year. At the least.”

One look at him made clear he wouldn’t budge a single fraction of an inch. Riko grit her teeth in frustration, barely keeping her temper in check.

“Fine,” she ground out angrily, rising too even if it didn’t have the same dramatic effect at all. “Be that way! Just you know, if anything happens and you get towed off, we _will_ do anything we can think of! And without whatever you could’ve told us we’re _that_ much more likely to get ourselves killed in the process. Just ’cause we’re young doesn’t make us incompetent or cowards!”

Riko knew she was snarling by the end, so she just turned around and stomped outside, setting out back towards the castle. She didn’t even wait for her friends, sure they’d catch up. Instead, when she went by a bunch of boulders she hauled back and kicked one, hard. It didn’t make her feel much better, but a little. With a loud curse she punched it, not keen to really hurt the foot she’d still have to use to get back to the castle and dinner. She was drawing back with a hiss and absently wondering how bad of an idea it’d be to repeat the manoeuvre when Amy interrupted her with an extremely put-out “Riko! Stop this, are you mad?”

Turning round, Riko sighed and leaned back against the boulder, cradling her hand, and absently moving her fingers. They were fine enough, she’d only scraped her knuckles a bit. Not like she wasn’t trained well enough by.. anyway. “Relax, Amy, sheesh,” she shrugged. “See, all fine, no problem. Just had to let off some steam. Bloody idiotic martyring mane-brained Gryffindor, damnit all..”

“Well, at least we know it wasn’t him, now,” said Edie consolingly.

“Yeah, fat lot of good that’ll do anyone,” grumbled Vi, voicing Riko’s thought on the matter perfectly.

“So, you gonna tell Potter he was an idiot for suspecting Hagrid in the first place, or what,” Rio asked Amy, to distract herself from it all.

“I.. no.. no, I won’t,” stated Amy resolutely after the first stuttering.

“Well, it’s a bit complicated,” she answered their questioning looks. “They’d want to know why I confronted him and I’d either have to lie and say I did it alone or tell them that I told you about it and anyway, I said we should ask him but Ron said not to and Harry agreed and it’s just.. complicated.”

Amy shrugged uncomfortably and they set out for the castle together, but she was obviously still chewing on the matter in her head.

“If they really wanted to know they should ask him themselves,” stated Riko to dispel her friend’s doubts. “It’d be the Gryff thing to do, and you’re not obligated to tell them if they’re too lazy or cowardly for it.”

“They’re not,” defended Amy them immediately and Riko barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. “They’re really not! They’ll be kicked out of Hogwarts if they get into trouble again, the headmaster said so, after the thing with the car and all. So they can’t just go and..”

“Visit their friend Hagrid? Who lives on the school grounds? In the afternoon, in their free time? That what you’re saying?” clarified Riko, perhaps a trifle scathingly, then hastily continued when her friend opened her mouth again to argue. “No, listen, I’m not saying this to be mean. It’s their decision, their business, whatever, sorry I asked. But you starting to beat yourself up over not telling them when clearly they don’t really care to know and you do isn’t going to fly. Just.. give it up, a’right? You’re not obliged to pick up everything after them if they can’t be arsed to.”

There was a few moments silence after this then Amy nodded grudgingly. “Ye-es, alright. I just feel a bit like last year, before the whole Polyjuice fail, and I don’t mean to trail secrets after me like mud, it’s just..” she sighed, clearly miserable and..

“Amy, stop this, are you mad?” exclaimed Riko with some exasperation, intentionally citing her friend verbatim and also poking her in the side. “Stop taking that stupid griffin serious already, it’d be less distressing if you were punching walls than do that..regurgitating judgemental bullshit thing, it’s not healthy!”

“My, how poetic you get,” threw in Vi from the side with a smirk, before turning to Amy in a much more serious voice. “That griffin was just full of it and throwing stones in a glasshouse, too. So just ignore what she said.”

“She really was unreasonable,” nodded Edie, “and obviously she didn’t care much about the fate of the school, either, so her opinion is really not something to value overly much.”

Edie really did always come up with the best ways to cinch it in convincing Amy, well, as the rational aspect and fellow swot, of course. They headed for dinner at the Hufflepuff table and started planning how to best go about their restarted project without drawing attention that would make them targets of the Hagrid, the headmaster, and their heads of house. It’d take longer to get anything done, they couldn’t just ignore the rest of their usual routines again, but that wouldn’t stop them.

*

Ironically, after weeks and weeks of searching, it would be one of the many things distracting them from their goal that actually brought them to a breakthrough. First, after that dismal visit, the Untouchables were careful to seem perfectly ordinary, insofar they could ever be called that. Well, there were no more visits to Hagrid, obviously, but other than that.

It meant they went to Saturday’s Quidditch match Hufflepuff vs Slytherin, Riko in the Slytherin stands while the others were sitting with Vi in the stands of her house. Then there were the occasional pranks to be played, homework to be done and odd things to research in the library, none of which were now allowed any connection to the chamber or its monster. It wasn’t overly hard: firstly, most of what they really wanted to research was hidden in the Restricted Section anyway, and secondly, they became rather distracted by the subject of Animagery and consequently the history of Transfiguration.

Animagi, plural of animagus, were people who could transform into an animal by themselves and keep their mental faculties intact, which was the exactly point, or rather one of the points that had been driving the Untouchables to distraction in their search. Another great point was that it didn’t even need a wand, which meant they’d be able to use it anywhere, no matter their age without worry of having their wand-spells detected. Unfortunately they found it wasn’t just very advanced and difficult, no, like anything that was or even could be really great or fun or useful it was of course highly regulated. So, yeah, it wouldn’t just take lots and lots of work, no, just about anything helpful or even halfway detailed on the matter was _also_ bound to be in the Restricted Section. Bloody fucking fantastic, they could put it right below their current research already on the list.

They still did their best to explore the school, that was after all normal for them, and secure the as-yet unused secret passages they knew of, such as the one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy in the corridor on the fifth floor. It was a very steep, winding staircase, followed by a long corridor with many curves and led to a hut in a small clearing in the forbidden forest. It was a small building, old and broken-down but still quite pretty, currently being reclaimed by the forest. Clearly the meadow had once been bigger, if not by much, and there had been a nice little patch of garden attached to it. As this was clearly Hagrid’s territory, they retreated quickly. After all, Filch knew of the passage, so it was unlikely to be used by the monster, even more so if it was discorporeal.

In their rambling searches, both literary and physical, they unearthed a lot of middling interesting things, such as that Gryffindor’s crest had actually been a griffin for quite some time as he himself had supposedly been able to turn into one, or the roomy, oddly short-seeming secret passage that led from a wide mirror in the fourth floor directly to a small crypt in what turned out to be the chapel Nick was buried in. The next full moon was obnoxious, it’s zenith again very late and on a Monday morning, too. Amy wasn’t pleased at all, always loath to miss lessons, but it still took some serious work for Riko to convince her to trade. That way Vi would only miss Defence, which was really no great loss, and Riko could be Edie and take notes in Charms before Amy arrived an hour late.

Professor Flitwick liked her well enough to accept her excuse, pretty much the same Riko had used last year on McGonagall, and no harm was done. Riko only had three lessons on Monday, being officially ill was no problem. Specially since the first was Lockhart, the second Sinistra’s theoretical part, and the last Potions. Professor Snape certainly would take note, yes, but not make a fuss about one of his house. Then suddenly it was the middle of March and a great darkish grey owl dropped a small package onto Riko’s eggs and bacon. The sender had sealed it with a heavy seal, an S and a stylised Saturn in it, and the tiny lettering that ran around the rim read _tempus fugit, ergo carpe temporem_. It was Saturday morning and consequently Riko could let out a gleeful sound of appreciation, sitting with her friends on the Hufflepuff table.

Cheerfully ignoring their questioning look, Riko cleaned it with a quick charm and tucked it into her jacket with a smug grin. All during the remainder of breakfast she couldn’t hide her justified glee, drawing more than one eye-roll from her company. Worth it though, just to see their faces when they received their personal pocket watches, hand crafted by Saturnia’s Superior Wizarding Watches.

“You.. you’re mad,” croaked Vi, completely aghast, and wasn’t it just the sweetest thing to see her usually so unflappable friend so shocked.

Riko grinned even wider, feeling almost like the top of her head was about to come off with glee. Amy and Edie were quite thoroughly surprised, too, of course, but neither of them was as versed on their worth and exclusiveness as Vi so it was like a personal prank. In short, fantastic, and she appreciated that Vi didn’t elaborate on it, catching herself admirably and accepting it with a sort of pleased resignation.

“I just thought, what’d I want with some overblown ultra-gadget when I’m just looking for a watch and maybe a bit of function, y’know,” Riko shrugged easily, to make clear it was really no big deal. “We can try and tinker if we ever get round to it, there’s a detailed description with every certificate, and till then it should do well as a watch and compass.”

“It has the lunar phases mapped and there’s something to map it to days of the week and.. Riko this has to be really intricate, but says here it’s just the core..” said Amy, already going over the description of her watch and looking over all the fancy tricks referred to as ‘basic clock functions’.

“It really looks just like silver,” said Edie, looking down wonderingly at the watch, opening and closing it’s pale, unadorned lid simply by touching the rim at various points. “But it feels warm, a bit, and the warding..”

“The warding on it is insane.. that watch can deflect or stop just about any spell or force,” stated Vi confidently, even a little reverently. “She didn’t just imbue it or anchor it, she added a sheen of molybdochalcum just so she could use orichalcum on top and it’s all one piece for her purpose, and there’s still different layers and anchors on the different levels and inside..”

“Well, I’m glad you all like your gift, courtesy of Lord Malfoy,” smirked Riko very smugly, enjoying yet again their variant reactions.

Vi had known already, so she just raised her eyebrow and threw Riko a very.. eloquent look. Amy and Edie were far more satisfying, the first sitting still for a few moments, mouthing quietly, while Edie.. “Riko! You.. you said it was a gift from your family..”

Riko winced a little at the tone, shocked and sort-of disappointed, and the ouch, accusation in it, but was quick to answer with a twinkly smile and lightly apologetic air, “No, I didn’t, I just didn’t argue when you assumed it was from extended family, and when you get right down to it, that does include my spellfather.” Then she shrugged with an air of light embarrassment, “I just thought with y’all being so nice to not hold the Malfoys against me, and all, it’d be only fair, sort of like reparations, and as I said, what’d I want with some overblown uber-gadget.. just.. seemed like a good idea at the time.. err, sorry?”

Riko was play-acting only a little, she hadn’t thought much on it at the time but it had been part of her reasoning once she got round to it. She hadn’t really thought much on how to present the watches as gifts, either, it had just been sort of very logical in her head and of course she wouldn’t try and deceive them over where they came from.

“Oh gods and smelly spirits, shut it already,” snorted Vi, throwing a cushion and hitting Riko flat in the head.

“Honestly, apologizing for getting us a set of watches, only you, Riko..” grinned Amy, lightly punching her in the arm. She did lean against Riko, though, throwing her arm around her shoulders and giving a swift half-hug. “Thank you, it’s appreciated. Even if you could’ve been.. just a bit less secretive about it, hm?”

Riko smiled shyly, blushing both with pleasure and unease at having so easily turned away their scrutiny and attention. She was uncomfortably aware of Vi’s sharp, even look on her while she mumbled about wanting it to be a surprise.

“Well, you managed that rather well,” said Edie, positively mellow now and wearing her usual look of amused yet exasperated tolerance reserved for ‘Riko thought it was a good idea’ situations. “I’m hardly going to be mad at you for giving me a nice pocket watch, and I guess I could’ve paid a bit more attention, huh?”

“Hah, you were distracted, luckily, else how would I’ve gone about making this a surprise?” laughed Riko, still feeling very warm.

She felt Vi’s discreet scrutiny on her, but this was really enough of almost-trouble with her friends over something she’d kept to herself. And what if she told them now and they thought she’d been trying to bribe them with the watches? It was a valid Slytherin suspicion and it would be horrible to argue that sort of thing and it wasn’t really important now anyway. And besides they had things to do. True, the last full moon was just a few days ago and had worked well enough. But they still hadn’t made any headway with their exploring and it just wasn’t a good time to throw all of this out now. First solve that mystery, then talk about done-and-done-with history.

“So, any remains of homework to be done or shall we start straight to a bit of training, I really feel like hitting something, and then, after, back to the good old research-and-explore..” she suggested, and just like that they went back to their busy routine. And Riko stopped feeling quite as tense soon, not on accident but rather distracted by the upcoming spring equinox and it’s celebration, and all the things that needed doing, and also reassured by Vi’s steady silence. After all, if her friend didn’t see the need to intervene, it couldn’t be all wrong, right? And then, as mentioned, it was April’s full moon that started them on the path to some real progress.

It was Amy’s turn to be Edie for the night, after Riko had taken her shift last month, and she looked oddly excited during her incognito breakfast on Ravenclaw table. It was the week of the spring holidays, making it even less obvious than usual to the uninformed that Edie wasn’t feeling well, and luckily their friend was already looking much better when they were at last allowed to see her after lunch.

“I got an idea,” announced Amy in an excited murmur, beaming and all but twitching with enthusiasm. Considering the amount of time that had passed since breakfast this had to say something about the potential greatness of her idea.

“See, I took the main entrance yesterday to the Eyre, ’cause I always like the riddles and kennings it gives you, they never have only one answer, it was brilliant, I even got to ask a question back, but anyway. Did you ever look really closely at the door? You can’t really see it’s hinges of course, but there’s those, well, sort of like waves or something, where you know the hinges are attached on the other side, yeah? And they’re on both sides of the door! And it doesn’t have a lock at all, too..”

They shared a long excited look, falling very silent when Madam Pomfrey went by and gave them all a tolerant look and gravely approving nod.

“We’ll have to check it out, Edie, d’you think you’ll be well enough? No, of course you won’t, be quiet already.. we’ll be lucky if you manage not to kill yourself being nice at Vi’s birthday dinner later,” babbled Riko excitedly once the mediwitch was away far enough to not overhear. “This is fantastic! It’s bound to be _some_ thing, Amy, you rock, I dunno how I often I was hanging around there catching me some puns but I never really saw, or looked or, well, it’s fantastic! Hiding right there in plain sight, right in everybody’s face..”

“Oh, phsh, I never would’ve even noticed without Edie’s senses, it was just an accident, really..” tried Amy to downplay, but Riko was in way to great a mood to accept anything of the sort.

“Bullshit, that was, if anything, a great cooperation of Edie and you, and logically Vi, because clearly her birthday is acting like a lucky charm and radiating, and me because otherwise you all would probably lead utterly boring lives, completely devoid of hidden chambers and fun,” she grinned cheerfully, delighting in the entire situation and all but jumping on the balls of her feet.

“Yeah, right,” snorted Vi drily and the other two playfully rolled their eyes and the warm sun was lighting the hospital in a soft, brassy glow. This was, clearly, meant to be a very good day.

It turned out to really _be_ a very good day, as Edie was allowed to leave the hospital wing for dinner, of course with the usual stern instructions to get rest and for the others to make sure she did. They holed up in their room, at long last giving Vi her birthday presents, praising her accomplishment of actually making it to the age of thirteen and having a very pleasant evening with the cake Edie’s parents had sent and the meal of tea and cold stuffs the house elves had put in their basket. Riko had unfortunately not managed to trump her Christmas present, but Vi seemed pleased by her gift even so. The small bronze-and-steatite contraption could be tied around any MC, such as the one Riko had copied from her own Fiddler’s Green one, and allowed you to listen to it without anyone catching on. You’d just wriggle the small, separate steatite-bronze earplugs into your ears, or ear, depending how much you wanted to hear of your surroundings, and not stray too far away from it.

Amy’s empty book, if opened the other way and given a specific password, doubled as a rather flat but nifty box, even if it wasn’t bigger on the inside. That would’ve been near impossible to hide, in regards to spellwork density. Edie had evidently remembered that Vi had over Christmas showed a keen interest in projectile weapons after they’d watched the Cagliostro special, and got her a thick and extensive book on the entire subject. She’d also charmed its cover to resemble the books you stored it with, so Vi wouldn’t even need to worry about getting into trouble over it.

They went to bed early that day, well, relatively early, after playing cards, dice, and just relaxing in their room, playing at words in all of their languages until Edie dozed off against Amy’s shoulder. After all, tomorrow they were going to check out Ravenclaw’s famed entrance and the possibility of it leading directly to the guardian of wit and learning! And no matter what or who it might turn out to be, they were bound to be better than a grumpy, crazy griffin.


	17. Dead-Ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes the world is just set against you, even when you do your best and manage the unbelievable.. again. No actuall progress is made, no quidditch is played, and everything just plain sucks.

By Easter Sunday, the last day of the holidays, Riko was just about ready to start tearing her hair out in frustration. They had gotten absolutely no step further in the last few nights, unless you counted finding out all the ways that didn’t work.

Also, spending their nights hovering around the official Ravenclaw entrance while obscured and poking it every which way did nothing for enjoying the days, not even if you could spend the entire time talking languages you usually wouldn’t use on account of company. Riko hadn’t even managed to properly contemplate her plans for next year regarding the list of new subjects to choose from they had received. Amy was going all out, taking every single one of them, even Muggle Studies, claiming it would be fascinating to see it all from a different perspective. Riko wasn’t going to argue that point but there were already not enough hours to the day so she was hardly going to take on five more subjects - three would be enough trouble, surely.

Taking Care of Magical Creatures was a no-brainer ever since her first day, when Jake Flinton, last year’s seventh-year prefect, had told them about it. And Professor Kettleburn was an unhurried, calm man with true enthusiasm in his subject and teaching it, from the tlk in her house, so, seriously, a complete no-brainer, choosing Creature Care. Ancient Runes she wasn’t going to miss for anything, set as she was to becoming free explorer and travelling the world, and after the fantastically fascinating introduction into Arithmancy by Vi’s father, even if Riko still wanted to rip his damn head off, she wasn’t going to pass that up, either. (Vi had expounded on it, and explained a truly fascinating lot of details, but it was Mr Drake who had given her, via by-mention, the idea of tracing runes and meanings as a proper practice, used as Riko was to using physical writing. Which was apparently considered a crutch, although depending on context that could change a lot. Anyway, soon as she learned arrays she was going to ward her trunk all-over again, the runes and sigils she’d drawn ‘intent-only’ worked _and_ held fantastically well so far)

They only _had_ to take two subjects, but with Amy signing up for all of them Riko was sure she wouldn’t have a problem taking three. Edie had said Divination was the easiest because it was complete bollocks, according to Lea, and Riko was only too ready to believe that. From what she’d overheard, Trelawney was a complete fraud who was only coasting on her grandmothers’s name, who had been an actual seer. Fortune-reading as a common elective, honestly, what hogwash. Either you were a seer or you weren’t. Vi and Edie had both decided to stay in the normal shape of things and chosen Ancient Runes and Arithmancy so Riko didn’t worry about lack of company for next year. It was too bad they hadn’t taken Care of Magical Creatures too, but Edie had said it was just begging for trouble, with her problem and many creatures able to detect it somehow or otherwise instinctively reacting to it. Vi might’ve been convinced to join, but this way she’d be able to entertain and watch out for Edie, which was so dear a thing to do that Riko didn’t want to seem ungrateful.

Either way, it was now the last bloody possible night to properly do this; tomorrow lessons would start again and here they were again. Still stuck.

“It’s got to be something crafty, I’m telling you,” insisted Riko for about the hundredth time. “She was always travelling to learn from all sorts of master crafters, metallworking and glassworking and what-not..”

“That may well be, Riko,” Amy rolled her eyes tiredly, “but it’s going to have some sort of tricky verbal element, too..”

“I never said it wouldn’t, but it didn’t get shit done the last two nights, did it?”

“Yes, well, now that we do have some decent bronze again, perhaps you can refrain from blowing it up.”

“ _I_ didn’t - it was the bird, or door, or whatever, and it was in any case a gross overreaction, I was just trying around a little..”

“Stop bickering already,” interrupted Edie in a tired whisper, managing somehow to roll her eyes just with her tone, without actually doing it. “Just be a bit more careful today, Riko, eh?”

“Yeah, yeah, got a bunch of smaller ingots this time..” murmured Riko, studiously ignoring Edie’s silly worry for her in favour of the more reasonable worry about their supply of usable metal.

“Bushy tailed and bright, be welcome tonight, ashes and cats know to slip the net,” greeted the eagle-shaped knocker them with a nod when Amy and her stepped up to it, it being Edie and Vi’s turn to keep their backs free and play gallery.

Instead of trying with a foreign piece right away, Riko lightly put her fingers on it, murmuring a short greeting herself, and concentrated on exploring the material again. Yup, bronze, alpha bronze, and there, just at the edge was something fluttering, quivering, like a sort of controlled fluctuation imbued into the whole bird...

“There it is..” she mumbled, before stepping back so Amy could check it the same way. Meanwhile Riko took one of the finger sized ingots and tried to find any differences in the feel of it, correcting them whenever she did. The, well, tune, really, of it was off, just the slightest bit, more.. inert, lazy almost, and it was just the oddest feel to try and tease it up into a more active state. Riko thought she pretty much had it, but she’d thought so before so she fixed the details of the current state as far as she could in her head and looked up at Amy watching her impatiently. With a muttered “sorry“ she handed over the ingot and turned back to the knocker to try and get that picture again, check it back against the current frozen image in her head.

And a good thing, too, as there was again something just a little different, angled just a tad further left and orange, so to speak. It took two further rounds of adjusting, for Amy and her, before they both agreed it was, at least as far as the material was concerned, up to it. Peer-review by Edie and Vi confirmed this and let them start with the next step: the tune-slash-frequency-slash-dancing-curve-slash-colour and how it reacted to different pokings and prodings. They even went so far as to fiddle out a fittingly odd-looking and appropriately moving and fading picture of a jumping line in Riko’s notebook, (a graph, Amy said, only for Edie to add "scope plot", which, yes, fair enough, she had explained that one already, after the first night of trying), to be sure they were talking the same language, so to speak. Good thing Edie and Vi were so skilled with all those drawing-related charms, seriously.

“Alright then,” said Riko when they’d managed to keep the second ingot whole between them while she and Amy both channelled their respective idea of the perceived dynamic magical structure into the metal. (The first had formed a sort of barbell, then spontaneously decided to become something that looked like an exploded crystal marshmallow in the colour of bread-crust. It had also been damn hot, but hey, that’s why it was now in pieces on the floor.)

Ignoring its current comment, something about lunar cirrus and feather or foul, Riko touched the knocker with the ingot and let loose the oddly formulaic coil of energy that had agreed with Amy’s just now. For a moment nothing happened, which was still better than the metal boiling and splintering in her fingers. Then a wave of similar but much stronger energy rushed through her, like an amplified echo that carried notes that had been lost in the original sound. Huh, reverse of an echo, then, so it was the source? The eagle seemed grow a little, or perhaps it just felt that way, with the much stronger presence it suddenly emanated, its eyes now glowing a warm coppery-bronze light.

“Lightning and fire, quick to address, do you seek entrance so answer me this,” the living metal bird said, voice definitely much sharper and more aware than the usually rather easy-going knocker ever was. Head tipped sideways, it challenged, “Lightbringer’s doom, speak it to us.”

It’s eyes were now actively tracking the two of them, and it moved it’s head in a manner very like any other bird of prey getting impatient. Riko turned to Amy and they traded looks, both paging through all sorts of references in their head for a few hectic moments.

“Venus,” whispered Amy under her breath, barely audible, and Riko nodded, adding “Double, fire, the angel too.” They nodded at each other and Riko stepped up before the bird who was now definitely more bird than knocker.

“Lightbringer’s doom is settling down, low, for vesper.” She’d said it with her best assured voice, but when the eagle actually nodded, looking more like it was about to hack it’s beak into some little animal than anything else, Riko allowed herself to take a deep breath of relief.

With a last surge of light from it’s sharp eyes the door to the Ravenclaw tower opened, this time not swinging open to the left like usual but to the right. They entered in a tight group, looking around in wonder at the different and yet so similar view greeting them. It was definitely the same tower, but also very clearly not.

It was the same big airy room, the domed ceiling painted with stars depicting the current state of the sky, though it seemed higher up, the same wide, circular balcony connected to the lower part with three slim winding stairs and the same two doors that led to the dorms in it’s twin. Who knew to what they led here, though? Because that was were the similarities stopped. Instead of thick silken wall hangings in blue and bronze the walls were bare and pale, though the large, gracefully arched gothic windows presented the same striking view of the surrounding mountains. There were none of the many high-reaching shelves filled with boxes, colour-coded, different sub-codes depicting their contents of puzzles, gadgets and gimmicks, and none of uncountably many books.

Instead of a midnight-blue carpet decorated with wave patterns, the floor was tiled, though the parts at the rim that controlled the location and time depicted on the ceiling were still there, metal inlays glinting in the weak light of the stars. The floor was not cold, stone though it was, Riko felt it’s warmth sneak up through her tabi, so that was the same as the normal common room. Not too surprising, if you thought about it, as there was no fireplace here, either. And if Riko had ever needed a reminder of not only looking around herself but also upwards when in unknown territory she got it now. In her defence, she did check their above as soon as they’d secured their level surroundings, but by then the absolutely huge bird was already making itself noticed on its own. The rustle of its enormous wings as it glid over to land on the railing of the balcony across them was not loud as such, but it carried a weight and power that had them all freeze immediately.

Sitting there, it was at least as big as Gloria when she’d sat back on her haunches and eyeing them with a very similar, sharp look, revealing a keen intellect, somewhat alien but carrying much knowledge and wisdom. It tilted it’s head in a gesture so utterly and abruptly bird-of-prey Riko felt a shiver try to run up her spine. She’d eat her broom if this wasn’t a real, magic-sparking Roc, the way his plumage seemed to flow between the various shades of clouds, playing the prettiest, lightning-trailing tricks on her eyes. How utterly fantastic was that?!

“Well, then, what whisps have I got for guests after so long a time?” the Roc asked, “I’m used to the occasional wakeful sleeper drifting through, but you’re yet a far cry from laying down in the first place..”

“I should hope so, great soarer,” bowed Riko, taking a step forward and feeling something coil warmly in her centre when she noticed Vi move to stand behind her shoulder, like a guard. “We’re students of this fine school and on a quest for truth,” Riko paused to quickly lick her lips, hoping to not enrage yet another guardian of the school.

The bird only ticked his head again, though now the impression of predatory interest was lessened much by what looked to be a shimmer of amusement in his eyes of evening-sky blue. “Are you now, little slipstream,” his voice rustled over them as if a strong breeze was blowing his words into their heads and Riko was very aware of the fine hair on her arms and neck standing up at the light current of energy trailing in the air. He sounded amused, though, so that was alright for now, especially when he followed up with another, lighter gust of: “philosopher’s eris, that quest, not sure I could be of help to you there..”

The gentle mockery tickled something in her guts, letting it relax, and Riko grinned fiercely, feeling that much closer to some useful info at long last and enjoying the silvery trill of excitement at the challenge to play at words. A sane person, at last! Amy beside her changed her stance, too, as if picking up a tune she recognised in an uncommon song, more at ease now and as usual all but quivering with barely-held-in energy.

“We’re more interested in the practical application of it anyway,” the Gryffindor said, stepping up beside Riko with a smile and nudging her to continue.

“You, oh cloud-dressed shearer of winds," Riko obliged as courteously as she could, "wouldn’t perchance know of an ominous creature fond of turning it’s victims to stone, hidden here in this castle?”

It laughed, a sound like lightning dancing over a metal roof or a strong wind skipping over whipped water, the air quivering and dancing around them. From the corner of her eyes Riko saw Edie shiver, stepping up beside Amy the same way Vi had for her. She looked not so much disturbed as awed, though, and eagerly curious, all her attention on making sure to miss nothing at all.

“You carry many sparks in your winding path, little gale,” the Roc rustled, eyeing with mirth Amy first, then letting his eyes wander behind them and back again. “Your eddies favour you, dears, catching the interest even of such an old wind-dancer as I. Rikash, companion of Rowenna and guardian of Ravensclaw and her allies, calls you welcome, young guests.”

“We are honoured by your hospitality, Rikash Wind-dancer, keeper of storms,” Riko bowed again because being polite was no chore considering his generous giving of name, title and hospitality.

At her side Amy had mirrored her movement and spoke up again. “We certainly are, though of course we’d be obliged even more, if you were speak some on the subject my bright companion just let fly.”

Rikash rustled his feathers, elaborately settling his wings, and Riko saw a front of heavy grey clouds draw over them. A thoughtful sound, a bit like waves rushing by her dormitory windows or even winds over water, paced round the room then. “What practical use, I wonder, might two entertaining winders of winds such as you have for such a crawling menace or its truth, hm?”

Overtly the atmosphere called to mind heavy storm clouds covering the skies, but Riko wasn’t worried. The undercurrents trailing around the room were about the same level of light mockery and teasing as before. She traded a small moment’s smile with Amy, looking forward to what awesome description her friend would come up with regarding the start of their situation.

“Two students and one ghost have been attacked and we’re trying to find the true cause,” Edie spoke up evenly in her best ‘preventing explosions’-voice, startling just about everyone else in the process and changing the atmosphere to a far tenser climate. She noticed it, too, even if it was a little too late, but she held up well enough, luckily not apologizing.

Rikash’s exasperated sigh circled the room like a caught gust from an open window, but he let his feathers settle again.. after hopping down and almost blowing them backwards when he caught his fall to land very close to them, eyeing them even more sharply than before. “Fhhhhh,” it echoed around them, the windows seeming to vibrate although the air around the Untouchables was still enough to barely tousle Riko’s hair. “Yet fledglings and already so set. I’d wish you better turbulences but I doubt it’d do any good. Little lightning and quicksilver’s spark, you’ll be dancing wherever you go, but your two companions.. such straight gales often break against heavier structures. Even with the eddies on your edges, your courses will be troublesome..”

“Oh, we’ll steer them clear of the worst, only fair, really,” smiled Riko up easily at the deeply blue eyes that were bigger than her fist, taking care to stand so Vi was in full cover, feeling Amy move at the same time.

It wasn’t so much that she worried the big bird might attack, though that was a possibility her paranoia wasn’t going to just discard, but it’d do nobody any good if he started prodding those two. It was interesting, true enough, that Amy was more of an inherent layer-thinker than Edie, but it wasn’t overly surprising, what with how she constantly managed hanging out with the Untouchables and still taking care of her two Gryffindor nutters. After all, if you got down to it, Edie’s only secret was the one she was forced to keep, other than that she was very straightforward, if not exactly transparent. It was a more passive sort of keeping things private, but Riko respected it just as much as she respected her friend. And, well, Vi was so forthright and singleheaded, Riko was never going to understand how her friend could at the same time be as underhanded and discreet as she was. It was probably a matter of who it was aimed at or some other perspective-related thing and Riko certainly wasn’t going to pry. Besides, Vi’s way of subterfuge was really mostly smart ways of being quiet or oblique about things, not something for which you’d need all sorts of different but interacting layers or corners in your head. And anyway, back to business..

Riko gestured negligently, going for maximum distraction now, “See, the thing is, supposedly it’s the monster of Slytherin, handled by the supposed heir of Slytherin, with the supposed goal of getting rid of all the muggleborns..” She huffed with true annoyance at that, then quickly continued in the hope to draw out something of interest in the bargain. Name-dropping wouldn’t hurt, right? “The attacked students were muggleborn, admittedly, but Gloria said Slytherin’s companion wouldn’t do that, and that petrifying people wasn’t his thing, either, and as far as we know the monster was first witnessed about fifty years ago. Which is the reason, or one of the reasons, we’ve been looking for the guardians, or really the guardian who’d feel responsible for this sort of thing. Which is probably not you, no offence meant of course, but you don’t seem the indoorsy type, but perhaps you know something, or can send us in the right direction.”

“Nice pattering of rain, little lightning, I shall see if I can send a small breeze over it,” rustled Rikash, eyeing her with an eerie sort of tolerant amusement, then again nodded, sharply and, well, bird-like. And not the harmless sort, either, but with his eyes still like that she decided not to worry.

“It’s not surprising“ the Roc went on, “that Slarzu’s name would come up, I know his wariness and even contempt of many of the muggle customs, not to mention he could never stand their lack of entertaining conversation,” he gave a strange trilling caw, a chuckle as it seemed, though Riko felt lost as to the exact cause and irritated by the odd pronunciation of Slytherin’s name. “My dear, vocal fellow Gloria does speak true, of course, neither Slazar nor his companion would take their causes against students. I wonder what she made of you fledglings, wasn’t there some eruption round the solstice, hm?”

Another small gust of laughter rustled and whispered round the room at the small wince none of the Untouchables could quite suppress at the comment. Seemingly pleased and with a small settling of feathers Rikash returned to the matter, as if in payment for the supplied amusement. “I cannot ken a creature of both power and temperament inclined to such acts living undiscovered in the castle. Stone it may be, yet it lives and breathes magic, and never would it tolerate for such a threat to remain. You are quite right, also, that I am even less in my nature inside than Gloria..”

“But you know who can help us, I’m sure, there can hardly be anything you know not or are unable to ken otherwise, air and whispers being you domain, and wit and wind your servants,” Amy jumped in, when the Roc let his voice trail off, as if in thought. Riko shot her a small grin of great pride at her friend’s circumspect prompting.

Yet again an unearthly sort of “hmmm” whispered around the room, trailing tendrils of amusement and dancing air, as Rikash tilted his head again, resettling his wings and feathers. “You speak true and courtly, too,” the Roc said at length, still regarding them sharply through deep-blue eyes. “If there’s peril inside and the masters of the school know not how, they’d need call on Slarzu’s friend. He has ways about and different exits from his domain of cool and calm. I know them not, though, nor visited him there, as a wind-dancer is hardly liable to venture below grounds and he was obliging enough to visit when we liked to talk.”

Seeing their dejected manner, he gave a huffed, silent caw that tousled their hair and made the windows rattle. Riko wasn’t going to ask him any more about the Slytherin guardian, as he was obviously honouring his friend’s discretion, but all the same, this was disappointing.

“Perchance Hufflepuff’s companion might be able to help us find him then,” she suggested thoughtfully. “Would you know how to contact them? For we have as yet found nothing on whatever stout ally the Lady Hufflepuff bid guard the castle.”

Rikash looked her over again and Riko could practically feel his regard turn sharper as the moments passed. When he talked, tilting his head in a distinctly bird of prey fashion, the dancing currents of air were sharper and laced with hints of cold rain. “Yet more disappointment for you, though you should take it as a wind to take under your winds to rise above it. I would hardly betray any of my companion’s discretion, if I even knew what you ask. We talked, of course, but always outside then.”

Great. Riko understood his reasoning, she really did, but it wasn’t just disappointing as he’d said, it was damn frustrating. Here they had a sane, valid source at last, but it wasn’t doing them any good at all.

“Well, how would one go about asking or generally finding Salazar’s companion then, could you perhaps give us some hint? Or how would you go about asking him to visit and talk?” she asked, refusing to give up yet.

The look she got for it was downright stern and Riko recalled with worry the way spirits or creatures of air were often liable to quick tempers, as changing as the wind in it’s directions.

“I have slept long, only occasionally woken by one of the rare paled visitors of which I imagine he gets even fewer, and we usually agreed on a good time. I would not summon him here if I could, we are friends and companions, and his sleep is deeper than mine up here with the tempests.” He snapped his beak then, temper turning sharp. Riko had a suspicion it wasn’t for them, or not only, but the cause mattered less than the result, right now. “That your elders have lost this knowledge is sad but I have it neither, thus I cannot give it. It wouldn’t matter either way, as no matter how deep his sleep is, he is liable to wake when need rises, and he is hard to fool.”

It was clear he was out of patience now, just like the weather outside was losing it’s pleasant manner, or perhaps the causality went the other way. But again, cause was less important right now than effect, so Amy and Riko hurried to make a courteous farewell and the Untouchables retreated with extreme caution. Damn it all, had he just more or less used the same excuse as Gloria? That the guardian would magically wake if he was needed? Obviously it wasn’t the case, damn it! It was a good thing the landing was dark, quiet and empty, as they had not paid attention to it in their focus on getting away without a repeat incident of the Yule mess. When the door closed behind them, Riko leaned back against it with a fatigue that came not only from the late hour.

“Well, we did learn some new things, right? And nothing bad happened,” Edie said quietly, then looked worriedly around as the echoes danced around them.

“Sleep for now, I’d say,” murmured Vi expertly in the manner that let sound carry least. “No sleeping in tomorrow, at least for you two, and Riko is liable to get called up for edutainment again.”

Amy and Edie nodded uneasily, clearly tired and ill at ease in the aftermath of the odd conversation. The wind and weather beating against slim, high-arched windows and echoing through the high, tightly winding staircase tower were certainly not helping. Riko nodded gratefully to her Hufflepuff friend and addressed them.

“Right, you two have double Charms and didn’t Professor Flitwick say he wanted to go into more details on shrinking after the holidays? Now you best get some rest, I’ll call this a success,” she shot them a grin and they obliged to roll their eyes lightly, relaxing a little with it.

“You would,” smiled Edie just before a yawn split her face.

“It was much better than with Gloria,” Amy allowed, “and he was really alright, a bit peculiar, but still alright, and wicked sharp and still sane.”

“See,” Riko nodded with her best face of grave wisdom and then proceeded to organize the best way of returning everyone to their dormitories. Which really only meant Edie rolled her eyes again and took a few steps inside hers while Vi and Riko travelled with Amy to her corridor. It was a simple matter of better being safe than sorry, with their friend being just as muggleborn as all the other victims so far. Well, except Nick, but he was an odd anomaly anyway. Riko wasn’t even clear on how Mandrake exactly elixir was supposed to cure a ghost who couldn’t very well drink it. But then, that was clearly not their department, they could worry about that once they found the right guardian at long last, solving this entire mess.

*

Progress, however, became rather non-existent over the next few weeks. It wasn’t just the insane amount of homework heaped on them all, as if the teachers wanted to make sure there’d be no recurrence of last year’s prank war, continually going on about how important everything was for the exams, but it was certainly a big part of it. It left them even less time to research, especially with their handicap of pretending they weren’t in fact researching anything on the subject, and thank you ever so much for that, Hagrid, you great big bloody martyr. Time flew, especially with the weather getting better and better, Beltane cheering everyone, sending them buzzing with energy, cheer, and the official start of summer making the occasional silly prank really a requirement. Amy, when she wasn’t busy helping Potter with homework because he had again almost daily Quidditch practices, regularly brought up questions about wizarding customs of all sorts, fuelling Riko’s own interest in how they had developed in the first place and gotten to the current state, too.

There was for example the complete lack of museums, which was rather obvious, with families having private collections and if you wanted anything you needed contacts, which was after all this entire society in a nutshell. Well, most feudal-based societies to be fair, which made nothing better or worse but just, well, _was_. Or how the roots of the custom of witches not shaking hands with wizards had actually come from a rather dismal period when there’d been several trends bent on making witches as dependant on wizards as the muggle women of the time to their men. It had evolved into all sorts of different ways in the mean-time, of course, on the etiquette of who could and should offer or accept hands in which way. Interesting, sure, but mostly Riko was glad she hadn’t been raised to automatically offer her hand in greeting. That’d have got her in trouble with her pureblood-raised company right away. And anyway it was far less interesting than the history of the Main Library of Magic, which also explained why it never really got THAT many, hm, visitors seemed actually more apt than customers. And explained again why Hogwarts was still such a big deal, Alexandria-esque, really, right down to..

And then it was the full moon again, a rather peaceful one, with a balmy night and the zenith being at a reasonable time round half four in the morning. Vi had heroically dragged Edie to Madam Pomfrey after lunch on the day before and taken her place over the afternoon classes, too. It was a damn brilliant manoeuvre, as it increased Edie’s cred of not always being ill around the full moon. Besides, Vi’s afternoon lesson would’ve been double Charms and Riko had no trouble following the lesson or making detailed notes of everything relevant and interesting, with extra-notations and tangents and quotes and everything. On the day after, luckily a Thursday, Amy and Riko were again tiredly blinking at each other over their cauldron in double Potions, but in a rather good mood anyway. First non-house-day of the week was always something to look forward to, and with luck they’d get to take Edie from the hospital wing for dinner out by the lake. Their friend had seemed comparatively well, and it’d be great to have a rest outside in the fresh air. Wideye potions didn’t do much for dry eyes after a sleepless night, and the fumes in a dungeon-full of potions didn’t help.

Luckily, Madam Pomfrey was her most tolerant and kindly self, perhaps because of the brilliant weather, and it turned into a very fine evening once they’d evaded a few cases of potential trouble via Obscurantis. Friday was pleasant in much the same vein with the added bonus of Edie doing better again so they could pay back yesterday’s attempt at troubling them. With interest, of course, it was simply a matter of principle with the Duck Squad, nothing to be done. All in all, Riko was in a mellow mood when the weekend rolled around at last, even with the Quidditch match on Saturday. Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor, as the Hufflepuff vs Slytherin match had been moved forward back in February, when the entire fourth-year of Gryffindor, four members of the team, had been afflicted with a rather nasty gold-mane poisoning during a lesson in Herbology. It wasn’t exactly, directly harmful, it was a rather slow-working pollen, but it was not easy to get rid of, and in the mean time their entire coordination of senses and motor skills had been rather.. affected.

Riko didn’t mind at all. The weather was good enough that she was actually looking forward to see a well-played game, a good bet with the playing teams, and sitting with her friends in the Hufflepuff stands was no chore, either. Even Macmillan wasn’t going to be unpleasant about his continued paranoia about Potter when there was a match going on, surely, and if he did, Riko was ready to handle him, and distract Vi from it by any means necessary. It was a bit of a shame Amy couldn’t sit with them, but she’d probably be entertained enough sitting with her housemates and cheering for Potter. Besides, she did sit with them at breakfast, until Potter and Ronald stumbled in just in time to still grab a little food and she had to collectedly wrangle the harebrained asses again.

She’d been rather shaken up, at first, because someone in Gryffindor had vandalized Potter’s stuff and stolen the diary of Riddle. Riko didn’t see the problem exactly, beyond the obvious one of having a weird hooligan in the house of, well, weird hooligans. She didn’t say it like that, of course, instead making up some better arguments on why it was not a good thing, of course, but probably of little consequence. The diary hadn’t been useful anyway and there was always weird stuff going round Potter. Amy looked in better spirits when she left to hurry over to the Gryffindor table before her two friends could even sit down there and start filling their plates. Riko didn’t know why they even bothered, at least in Potter’s case, as he didn’t even eat a single roll. Ronald in contrast seemed to feel obligated to eat for his friend, too. Then Vi shot her a look and Riko stopped trying to visually vivisect all the odd specimens and potential hooligans on the Gryffindor table. Well, she’d also been curious to see Ginny, but whatever. Riko still hadn’t seen the red-head when they rose to head for the stands, but then, the Hufflepuff table was at the opposite end of the hall and Ginny was rather small.

The weather was right brilliant, sunshine warming everything although it was just going into May, a light, refreshing breeze blowing to stop you from feeling drowsy. Some players were already in the air doing warm-up manoeuvres and the Hufflepuffs were having a last-minute talk of tactics. Perfect Quidditch weather, seriously, both for the watchers and the players, and Riko almost wished she could play, too. Perhaps she could convince the others to do a little Flying in the afternoon..? She was just stretching herself properly, enjoying the fine weather and mood, when Edie pointed her to something down on the green. McGonagall was half-marching, half-running across the pitch, carrying an enormous purple megaphone. They traded alarmed looks. This couldn’t be good.

“This match has been cancelled,” McGonagall called through the megaphone, addressing the packed stadium. There were boos and shouts. Wood, looking devastated, landed and ran towards her without even getting off his broomstick, shouting something.

McGonagall ignored him and continued to shout through her megaphone: “All students are to make their way back to the house common rooms, where their Heads of Houses will give them further information. As quickly as you can, please!”

Then she lowered the megaphone and beckoned Potter over to her and Riko wanted to gnash her teeth. Here they were, stuck in the middle of the Hufflepuff stands and while they were already starting to file down, the members of the house of patience and loyalty weren’t moving very quickly, more intent on talking among themselves about what might be going on. There was just no way to get down there fast enough that was socially acceptable.

“We can ask Amy tomorrow, she’s bound to know what’s up,” Edie said consolingly at Riko’s look - and she was right of course, but still. Just look at the Hallowe’en matter, they’d learned much more, and without Amy feeling bad because she was telling them Potter-things, too.

“Not much we can do, anyway, if we’re going to be addressed by our heads of house. Bad idea to be missing then,” added Vi, and was of course right, too. Still, a coil of worry at being so completely left out was twisting and knotting in Riko’s gut all the way to the lair.

*

“..All students will return to their house common rooms by six o’clock in the evening. No student is to leave the dormitories after that time. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. There will be no more evening activities.”

The Slytherins packed in the common room had fallen quiet as soon as he entered and were listening to Professor Snape in complete silence. He gave the parchment with the new ‘safety rules’ to Gemma, so she could hang it up later on the notice board and let his dark eyes sweep over them.

“I want it understood I will not tolerate any trouble on this,” he said in that tone of utterly conversational civility that made clear he was deadly serious. “As you will soon hear all over the school, there has been another double attack, one Ravenclaw and one Gryffindor have been petrified. This will lead to even more scrutiny being brought to bear on all of you and I expect you to act accordingly, with caution and circumspection.”

Riko thought of Ginny and her Ravenclaw friend and felt her worry boil up like a badly-handled potion. Around her, there were several nods, but Snape ignored this, letting his gaze cut over them again and seemingly not happy with what he saw. His face was a mask of buried annoyance when he continued.

“I am officially obliged to urge any of you to come forward, however discreetly you wish, should you know anything about the matter. Luckily I also have the authority to inform you I will treat this the same way as any other problem you ever feel like bringing to me.” His voice stayed perfectly in that narrow realm between distaste and polite sincerity as he spoke and Riko was impressed by the display. Anyone looking for him to make light of the matter would be just as satisfied as anyone who might actually both know something and want to tell him.

After all, despite the seemingly abrupt manner he displayed in the yearly address to the new first-years, every Slytherin quickly learned the meaning behind his words. No, he was not going pander to their petty squabbles or sniffling homesickness. He would however teach and look out for them in absolutely all ways if only they did him the favour of not being utter fools. Really even then, just more vengefully. Professor Snape was, simply put, their head of house, and he took the part of your house being your family serious enough that each of them could count on his discretion and impartiality without worrying about such petty things as official rules, hell, or high water. It was a fact they were all thankful for, what with the rest of the school, including the headmaster, so often set against them.

He breathed an impatient sigh, then shot them all his most serious look before speaking up again, and it was clear he was talking to absolutely all of them, no matter what family they were from. “The authorities are going to be desperate to be seen to act, indeed there is talk of the school being closed unless the culprit is caught. Considering the situation, you shouldn’t expect this to be a short period, if it comes to pass, and I need hardly remind you of the damage this could easily do to any of your potential careers. Not to mention the increased risk if any of you are found to be lacking full evidence of your innocence in any way.”

He let the words sink in, the silence in the room thickening and growing tense as people absorbed it all. Riko felt a big lump of icy lead form in her stomach. If it came to an official investigation would anyone mention her being caught in the corridors before Yule? What would happen to Edie if the school was closed, which other school would take her in? What would happen to Amy, whose parents were muggles? What would happen to Vi?

“Professor Snape, please, who was it that was attacked?” Jamie Zabini asked in a quiet and controlled voice, and Riko remembered the fifth-year prefect was seeing a Ravenclaw. In the silence the question had been very loud and Riko mentally congratulated Blaise’s cousin on the lack of any detectable emotion in her tone. Well, she was prefect for a reason.

Snape’s face had settled back into his customary mask of utter unreadableness, which seemed to be reserved for just about any sort of trouble. Riko was watching him intently and he definitely seemed tired and tense. For a short moment she thought there was an odd mix of anger and exhaustion in his look, and not just the lack-of-sleep kind. But although she was sitting rather close she just couldn’t be sure, and it wouldn’t do any good anyway.

“Prefect Clearwater of Ravenclaw and Miss Granger of Gryffindor,” he said very evenly, his voice entirely emotionless, cool and factual and very audible in the entire wide room despite the soft volume. Riko blinked. Had he just said..?

He nodded his usual curt farewell and swept out into the ante-chamber, presumably outside and back to his office, or back to the other teachers, or to the headmaster, and she was still sitting here and Amy.. Amy was petrified. How could Amy be petrified? She’d wanted to go to the Quidditch Pitch, how.. what.. where? What the bloody fuck had happened?

There were just a few too many terrible things tied up here, starting fires of white-hot-icy rage in the back of her head. Amy had been with her two insane Gryffindors, how could _she_ have been attacked and not _they_? And further, if the authorities, aka the Ministry, was now going to sweep in, they’d go for Hagrid, who hadn’t done anything! And they’d dare close the school while they searched, probably not finding anything, considering their utter incompetence, which would leave Hogwarts closed indefinitely! Which brought her back to Edie and her going to any school, and Vi, and Amy, double now that she was petrified, and of course Hagrid! And with the current rules, how where they supposed to find out anything, least of all how Amy had got attacked in the first place?

“..least now she’s going to be quiet, don’t suppose there’s another way to get her to shut up..” Draco’s smug voice floated over.

Riko kept very still, jaw clenched and face tightly controlled, only moving her head to look in his direction. He caught her look and something about it must have startled him because he looked away, to the side, clearing his throat. It seemed like a crust of ice was forming over her thoughts and Riko stood slowly, going to her dorm to write a note to the others, now that she was bloody stuck here and unable to properly find out or research anything. When she came back to the still-crowded common room, Riko had brought her set of Slytherins Wizarding Chess along and stopped directly by Draco.

“Let’s play a round or two,” she said, and it was not a question.

*

In the evening, well, at night really, having taken dinner and exchanged only some very careful final words with her friends on the Hufflepuff table, Riko was hurrying towards Hagrid’s. They’d agreed to meet there as none of them knew how long their housemates were going to stay awake, and they couldn’t risk missing their chance to talk to Hagrid by being too late. Well, Riko’s roommates hadn’t stopped talking and discussing and guessing and planning how to act for ages, damn them all, and even obscured it was not easy to get out unnoticed. The corridors were positively crowded with teachers, prefects, and ghosts, all marching round in pairs and staring round for any unusual activity.

The sky was clear and starry but Riko was in such a hurry she almost didn’t notice the line of people heading for the school in time. Hastily taking cover behind the boulders she’d last used for stress relief, Riko lured around the cover to perhaps catch something of significance. Leading the way was Dumbledore and he looked as far from his usual twinkly persona as she’d ever seen him, positively scary, both his controlled face and the tightly coiled, controlled power surrounding him. It really was a good thing his long hair and beard were so bright, she rather doubted he was in the mood to ignore her invisible sneaking around right now.

When she saw the second person, Riko’s worry increased even further. Lord Lucius Malfoy, her spellfather, was very proud of his clout as one of the most prominent school governors, and he was admittedly one of the most dangerous and potentially unpleasant wizards in Britain. Whatever he was doing here, with his current smug face and his well-known dislike of Dumbledore it couldn’t be good. And behind _him_ was, bollocks and damn it all, behind him was Hagrid, looking at once pale with fright and furious in a manner she had never seen on him before. Which meant she was too late. Bloody fucking _shite_.

Last in line, like an odd after-thought, was a very odd-looking man. He was short and portly with rumpled grey hair and an anxious expression, his clothes a mix that would out him as an eccentric or wizard in a second, depending if it was normal muggles looking or someone more informed. The normality of his pinstriped suit was completely destroyed by the bright scarlet tie, pointed bright purple boots, and long black coat. The pale, lime-green bowler on his head looked like a sort of parasitic mushroom. Riko thought she knew him, but not from where, no real clue who he was, but judging from the helpless anxiousness he couldn’t be very important, and he was walking last in line, too. Now she could either follow them or hope to meet her friends at Hagrid’s now-empty hut, from where she could hear Fang howling loudly.

None of the four was saying anything, and with Dumbledore among the group.. but on the other hand, she was going to see her friends tomorrow at the latest, and Hagrid was very good for cover. And if Hagrid was being taken, be it for questioning or to Azkaban, then why wasn’t there an Auror or at least one of the MLEP here..?

Hagrid and the odd little man went directly to the Great Hall and Riko overheard them floo to the Ministry, no further designation given. Dumbledore and Lord Malfoy had headed straight up the stairs, and Riko was not so insane as to follow into that sort of disaster waiting to happen. Instead she raced back to Hagrid’s, hoping her friends would still wait for her there. Fang wasn’t howling any more so it was likely..

When she came close she also heard voices. “..why we’re even still waiting, what good’s it gonna do, having one of those damn snakes know what’s going on. Don’t they already?”

And _that_ was Ronald Weasley, and as usual he sounded like he was trying very hard to be an idiot, and being rather successful at it, too.

“Contrary to popular opinion, we Slytherins don’t actually have a hive mind,” Riko stated, as Professor Snape as possible, interrupting the scene and thus ending her Obscurantis.

It was rather amusing, the way Potter and Ronald jerked in shock, but Riko took care not to show it too much. Instead she gave them a short nod and greeted her friends with a better nod and a grim smile. The sad fact that she felt like a steam kettle of doom and temper wasn’t going to stop her from being civil. And she certainly wasn’t gong to show those two mane-brained nutters any weakness.

“So, what’d I miss? Did you manage to talk to Hagrid?”

She knew the answer by the looks on her friends’ faces, even before Vi shook her head and Edie answered a soft, sad “No“. Their birdbrain was looking positively miserable, which probably meant she’d arrived after Vi and was feeling bad about it despite any sort of logic. Riko resolved to poke her on it, as soon as they were in private again.

“They did, though,” remarked Vi in her best neutral voice, gesturing to the two Gryffindors. Riko could actually feel the temperature drop. She did not sigh and it was probably one of her greatest accomplishments ever.

“So,” she said, not crossing her arms and not looking down her nose like they were as stupid and useless as, well, as she knew they were. “What happened?”

“He, well, we wanted to ask him about the chamber, he was.. he was at Hogwarts fifty years ago, but we didn’t get to, because..” Potter faltered in his already-weak delivery and Riko did roll her eyes then. She should probably be thanking all the gods he was answering at all, but she was just not in the mood right now, and not on _that_ subject.

“We already know he was expelled and why, so get over yourselves and please don’t tell me you actually believe he’d ever let a student get killed by some creature. Or, no, don’t tell me your opinion on it at all. Just stick to what happened, please.”

“How’d you..?” Ronald cut himself off but he kept on staring angrily.

“Hagrid is out friend. We talk,” was Vi’s dry comment and Riko could’ve hugged her friend for it. However, she was currently busy keeping a steady, questioning gaze on Potter, to hopefully make him answer before dawn.

“We’d just arrived when Dumbledore arrived with Minister Fudge and told Hagrid he’d have to go to Azkaban. Because the ministry’s got to be seen to be doing something,” Potter’s tone was bitter and Riko agreed one-hundred percent, filing away the info on the minister (right, from photos in the Prophet, and Lord Malfoy _had_ mentioned him at times).

Potter took a shaky breath and continued, raking his hand through his unruly hair. “For a short stretch only, he said, just a precaution, not a punishment, if someone else is caught he’ll be let out with a full apology, but, I mean,” he sighed with clear frustration. “How’re they supposed to catch whoever did it with Dumbledore gone? Cause, yeah, then Lucius Malfoy showed up and said the school governors wanted him removed, and Dumbledore just said yes and stepped down, and..”

“The governors didn’t want his removal, _Malfoy_ did,” exploded Ronald into a full-blown rant. “Hagrid said so and I bet you anything it’s true, he just went and threatened them, and blackmailed them, that damn Slytherin menace, and now Dumbledore’s gone and Hagrid will be stuck in Azkaban forever ’cause there’s no way the real heir of Slytherin’s gonna be found without him! There’ll be an attack a day with him gone!”

There was a moment of gloomy, tense silence and Riko did cross her arms then, because seriously, even if Lord Malfoy was being rather inconvenient, if this was what was going on, and had been in Slytherin, there had to be a line drawn, here.

“So, that’s it?” she asked Potter, her tone steely as she ground her jaw and ignored Ronald’s aggressive stance and look. “Hagrid didn’t say anything that might give a hint on what happened?”

Potter stayed quiet for long moments, eye-balling her with his eerily bright green eyes in much the same uncannily scrutinizing manner he had used when she’d asked him about Voldemort’s ghost last year. Again, he looked actually thoughtful, which was still a very odd look on him.

“Harry, you’re not going to..”

“Ron, there’s nothing bad they can do with it..”

“But..”

“Spiders,” Potter addressed Riko evenly. “He said to follow the spiders.’

Riko almost expected he’d nod and walk off, like last year, but he stood his ground simply looking at her as if expecting something.

“Alright, err, thanks,” seemed a good thing to say.

“You can thank me by telling me what else you’ve found out,” Potter said, still in that odd, even voice and Riko had to hand it to him, he was not a complete idiot right now. Unfortunately it probably wouldn’t do him any good.

“Well, we know of a number of people who aren’t the heir, including Hagrid and Draco Malfoy, but of the monster we know nothing except it is bound to be a reptile and we assume it’s discorporeal. And from what else we learned it’s not, well, it doesn’t belong at Hogwarts, which means it probably enters some unknown way, but if it’s discorporeal..” she shrugged, annoyed at the far-too-open range of possibilities, drawing her hand through her hair with a sigh.

“Yeah, right,” scoffed Ronald, also crossing his arms now. “How’d you figure that out, huh?”

Riko felt a muscle in her jaw tick at his disbelieving tone and took an even breath through her nose to stay calm. There really weren’t any good ways to answer that. Either she’d tell them Amy had talked about Potter hearing voices or that she’d heard it too and neither option was going to do any sort of good.

“None of your business, take it or leave it, I don’t care. ’S not like ‘follow the spiders’ is very helpful, either,” she stated coldly.

“Yeah, see, that’s it, you don’t care!” Ronald bit out, all but spitting like an angry teakettle. “Hermione got attacked and here you are, telling us bullshit when it’s clear it’s Slytherin’s monster and Slytherin’s heir and Slytherin’s chamber that are to blame. And you just don’t care!”

Her jaw hurt from how hard she was grinding it, but Riko was going to be damned before she allowed that clueless idiot to goad or one-up her. Cold rage was not something she liked, but it tended to work best for her. Channelling Professor Snape, too, no wonder he was head of house. She flashed him a bright show of polite teeth as she took another even breath of cool air. “She’s only been petrified and thus is going to be cured soon enough,” she explained in her best calm and silky talking-to-idiots voice, “so clearly the problem of Hagrid being shipped off to Azkaban and the risk of the ministry shutting down the school indefinitely, never finding anything because they’re all idiots and the trouble resulting from _that_ , are just a _tad_ more pressing, not to mention we might actually have a chance to do something there, while _I_ sure enough can’t spontaneously cure petrification.”

“Besides,” she couldn’t help but add when he blanched with anger, “I hardly think your fixation on Slytherin is very helpful. Doesn’t take a Slytherin to get a Gryffindor attacked, if you care to remember the events leading to last year’s prank war.” She gave him a sunnily bitter fuck-you smile and didn’t mind at all how scathing her tone had become. That bloody _git_ , how dare he act as if no Gryffindor had ever done a wrong when just a day ago one of their housemates had burgled Potter!

Not that she could say that without being horribly indiscreet to Amy, but throwing last year’s massive fail of house Gryffindor in his face was good enough. And it did the trick too as he gaped like fish for a few moments, turning an unflattering shade of purple.

“And whose fault was that?!” he yelled, once he got over his personal impression of a pufferfish with an unfortunate ginger wig.

Riko was indescribably glad, somewhere in the back of her head, that after her embarrassing explosion at Draco she’d put some safeguards in effect. This particular one was probably not going to last very long but an increased focus on going very still and automatically dropping into quicktime had obviously been a good idea. Because drawing up the amounts of magic to let Ronald bloody Weasley disappear in a sufficiently satisfying explosion would alert lots of people. And it’d lead to loads of trouble, too, and it wasn’t socially accepted, and Amy would have a fit once she was cured. Once she was cured was an important thing to keep in mind, it had helped Riko stay calm many times over the day and she kept it in her head like a safety blanket against her temper going off unasked-for.

But even so, with Ronald Weasley continuing his tirade on how that never would’ve happened if she wasn’t always hanging around with them, getting into all sorts of trouble, Riko’s decision didn’t change in a fundamental way, once she’d made it. He was being a complete idiot, and git, and she wasn’t going to tolerate it. She’d not kill him, of course, but teaching him a sufficient lesson was, sort of, a must. Fire was a good idea, because, well, fire was always a good idea, and she was sure having a decent flame spewed at him would do the trick in teaching him. What exactly she wasn’t quite sure, just then, but what did she know of what went on in any bloody mane-brained idiot’s head anyway. It wasn’t even a big spell, by all official definitions it wasn’t a spell at all, just a very useful seal, which meant there’d be no magical traces and..

The sudden “Vi, sit on her,” quietly delivered in Edie’s best calm-in-the-crisis tone threw her quite literally. And a fraction of a moment later also completely literally, when Vi stumbled her so that Riko, completely floored by this and fixed on not acting, beyond focussing for the fire-breath, landed on the ground, managing only barely to catch herself with her hands and in the process ruining the seal she’d been working on..

“No blowing up right now, Riko, bad idea, really, trust me on that one..” said a very dry voice. Vi, who was actually sitting on her back.

Riko blinked, but her eyes were still tracking Ronald even as he and Potter were being dragged away against their protests by Edie. Heh, they looked rather floored, too, at being unable to get away from her grip, and Riko grinned sharply. She knew from personal experience in their trainings that although her lunar problem was a right damn bother it did give Edie a few small advantages. Among them very good reflexes and a strength that was utterly surprising if one just looked at her small frame. There’d be no way for them to get free before Edie wanted them to, and Riko grinned even wider at their faces when they realized it, too.

“Course I trust you, sheesh, I’m calm, totally calm, wasn’t going to explode at all,” Riko said around a grin that was admittedly, perhaps, a trifle feral, lying perfectly still while she kept tracking Ronald with her eyes. It was a sweet feeling of blade-sharp amusement when she realized he was probably freaking out more right now, just from being dragged and tracked and grinned at, than a nice cone of a darting flame from her mouth could’ve done.

“Right, of course you wouldn’t just explode, bits of you flying everywhere is not your style, I know. Now what were you going to do, hm?” Vi’s drily amused voice echoed through her from her friend sitting relaxedly on her.

“Oh, I just though spitting a nice cone of fire at the git might teach him something, but I forgot what, with you startling me like that,” Riko smiled innocently at a few grass blades in her view, rather enjoying the tremor of Vi’s startled laugh.

“You really are insane, you know,” her friend said and Riko could actually hear her grin in the words.

“Yeah, I imagine it’s why we get along so well,” she answered good-naturedly before turning abruptly, making Vi fall off sideways. The mane-brains had already been dragged off, so that was alright, and Riko sat up and bumped Vi’s shoulder lightly with her own. “I can show you, if you like,” she offered as a sort-of reparation for startling her friend, and in general gratitude for having such a friend in the first place.

“Sure be nice, soon as we find the time, then?” Vi agreed, from her short smirk and tone again catching the unsaid too and Riko nodded happily.

They didn’t have to wait long until Edie came back, her jaw still set just so, and from her gait they could see she was still upset, just keeping a very tight lid on it.

“Alright, then, let’s get back,” she said in her better-listened-to herding-voice, pulling them both to their feet easily. “And no, I didn’t rip off their heads and bury them by then hencoop,” she then answered their questioning looks with one of her very rare, mean smiles, with lots of teeth. “I just told them that if I ever hear them trying to shift the blame for a first-year being attacked by upper-years in her own damn bathroom to anyone but the people who actually did it, I’d sicc the both of you on them, because next thing they’d argue it was her own fault, and then there’d be nothing in the whole world that’d stop me from dismembering them.”

Vi and Riko returned her smile and gave her a clap on the shoulder and they walked back in a relaxed silence until they had to separate to get back to their respective dormitories. It was really a good thing Edie was so, well, not just calm and smart but also insightful with it. Riko knew it came from her friend’s personal bad experience. Edie had been attacked, after all, when she was small, and now she was the one who’d be treated badly because of it if anyone found out, even though it was no fault of her at all. Seeing even the slightest danger of anything similar happening to her friend was bound to have her up in arms, all and any arms available in fact, and Riko understood this entirely and all-too-well.


	18. Under Pressure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The situation in the castle is just abysmal, by all standards, but maybe, just maybe, the worse it gets the more likely it is for opportunities for improvement and collaboration to appear..?

Summer was sneaking in with hardly anyone taking note of it. The sky and lake turned the most beautiful blues, from azure to cerulean to midnight and anything in-between, but Riko had no time for it. She was busy trying to hold onto her sanity and it wasn’t just the disgusting new _safety rules_ driving her spare, not to mention keeping them from getting any decent research, or anything else, done.

After the double attack the school was at long last convinced Potter wasn’t the heir. Amy would be so glad, if she weren’t bloody petrified that was. And besides, it was just ludicrous, alright, to take his friend being temporarily out of the picture, his smart friend, by the way, who could have found the actual heir, for proof it wasn’t him. In fact, if Riko wasn’t sure for various reasons that it _wasn't_  Potter then she would have instead thought it far more likely that he was the heir, now. What better cover, after all, and taking Amy, brilliant collector of hints and facts that she was, out of action, too. But of course that would require too much thought for the common populace of the castle and yes, maybe she was just a little bitter.

It was just grating, absolutely maddening, to have the few liberties in regards to her time and schedule as a student taken away, and it was even worse now, because how were they supposed to find anything like that? Not that anyone allowed there still was a problem to be solved. Instead it was treated as a sort of ominous, amorphous threat of the school closing all on its own, not even admitting that Hagrid was obviously innocent if they still had reason to be afraid, which they obviously were, and the hypocrisy and just plain idiocy of it was driving Riko spare.

They also weren’t allowed to visit Amy in the hospital wing, simply because no visitors at all were allowed from now. Madam Pomfrey had told them trough a crack in the hospital door they were worried about the attacker coming back to finish the victims off before they could be cured, but Riko had some serious doubt about the veracity of that. Maybe it was about preventing rumours, which was laughable in all ways, or something to do with the matter still being unreported in the Daily Prophet. In any case, it made little sense in the whole context, and the result was the same. Another thing to piss her off. And it didn’t stop there, of course, no, not at all.

With Dumbledore gone, the general mood in the castle was one of paranoid fear on a level that made the hysterics before the winter holidays seem tame. The relaxing effects of the pleasant, cheerful weather stopped at the castle walls, with hardly any student to be found who wasn’t looking scared or at the least worried and tense. Well, unless you counted Draco, who was strutting round the school like he owned it and doing his impression of a pureblood nutcase’s caricature, without realizing the caricature-part. Of course he could afford it, nothing was going to happen to _him_ over anything heir-of-Slytherin related, or possibly ever, with his family as it was. As opposed to many others in her house, quite possibly including herself.

It was a good thing mental safety blankets weren’t prone to ill effect through overuse, mused Riko absently during Potions on Monday afternoon, because so far her day had been fucked up enough that any normal blanket would’ve either torn or caught fire. It started first period, in Defence. Initially she’d been pleased when Lockhart bounded into the room in an obvious great mood, instead of marching around as grimly as every other teacher she’d seen since the attack. But he managed to completely ruin the effect in less than a minute.

“Really, now,” he exclaimed with pleased grin, “why so serious, everyone?”

Beside the fact he’d blatantly ignored Draco’s smug act, for which Riko was inclined to give him some appreciation, she was rather curious what the hell he was going on about. Unfortunately she was forced to find out when nobody answered.

“I really don’t see how any of you can still worry,” he stated warmly and rather slowly, as if explaining a simple matter to some very simple people. “Clearly the matter has already been solved, with the real culprit being taken away!”

“Oh, really, was he?” said Anja Dustmoor from Hufflepuff loudly, demonstrating that Vi was not the only one who took the values of the house of just and loyal to heart.

“Of course, my dear Miss Dustmoor,” the gilded git replied in a smarmy tone that made Riko itch to set something on fire. “After all, Hagrid wouldn’t be taken to Azkaban by the Minister of Magic himself, if his guilt wasn’t definitely clear and beyond any doubt.”

“Oh, Fudge would, alright!” stated Susan Bones confidently.

Her aunt was head of the department of Magical Law Enforcement, so she probably knew what she was talking about. This fact didn’t seem to impress Lockhart, however, who simply waved it away like a bit of fume.

“I dare say I might know just a tad more about the facts of Hagrid’s arrest than you dear children, simply by being private to a few more facts,” said Lockhart in an airy, self-satisfied tone. Then he interrupted himself with a yelp, instead of continuing in the same vein, because the hem of his sleeve had spontaneously caught fire. It made for a bit of a diversion and caught Riko a small nudge from Vi which she studiously ignored. Not like she’d done it on purpose, exactly, she just didn’t feel bad about it, either.

And it did help, Lockhart was only too glad to start in on Gadding with Ghouls then. He again called upon Riko and Alice to act out the more interesting parts after reading them the less action-packed bits about his personal awesomeness. Riko forced herself to shut off her brain and channelled at least some of her temper in her best ghoulish slavering yet, if she said so herself. It was, as such, a rather normal, restful lesson of Defence, with Riko soon dozing behind her massive stack of books, but Lockhart kept up his utterly annoying cheeriness, always dropping hints here and there, that he had always known something was just not right with that great big ground keeper, he was known for getting into situations in the pubs, wasn’t he, setting things on fire when under the influence. It made her want to strangle him, simple as that.

Theoretical Astronomy was a relief, with Sinistra being less obviously tense and grim than the other teachers and no talk about anything more exciting than the potential diversions of moons from their pre-routed courses. With Vi at her side they managed to take enough notes between the two of them and doze through most of the boring bits. After lunch, however, was Potions, which was already grating on Riko’s nerves by the pronounced lack of Amy to sit beside her. It wasn’t going to be her biggest problem, she already knew and dreaded it, what with Draco and his fixation on goading Potter and his Weasley. And she was proven right bare minutes into the lesson, well, the brewing part of it.

“I always thought Father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore,” Draco said to Vincent, not troubling to keep his voice down. “I told you he thinks Dumbledore’s the worst headmaster the school’s ever had. Maybe we’ll get a decent headmaster now. Someone who won’t want the Chamber of Secrets closed. McGonagall won’t last long, she’s only filling in..”

Riko kept her eyes on the cauldron before her, ignoring everything, be it talk or the glaring, Amy-shaped hole beside her, while Professor Snape swept by like a silent, sleep-deprived shadow-bat.

“Sir,” continued Draco loudly, “Sir, why don’t you apply for the Headmaster’s job.”

“Now, now, Malfoy,” said Professor Snape, and Riko could _hear_ the thin, tightlipped smile in his tone. “Professor Dumbledore has only been suspended by the governors. I dare say he’ll be back with us soon enough.”

If that wasn’t a warning she was a bloody griffin, but either it went over Draco’s head entirely or he didn’t care for warnings. “Yeah, right,” he drawled, and she knew the smirk that went with this tone, only too well, and she didn’t care for it one whit, not about _this_ , but hey, needs must, and why was the entire world fucked up quite that much again? Soon to be cured, she repeated in her head, almost drowning out Draco’s voice, soon to be cured, as she counted how often to stir clockwise.

“I expect you’d have father’s vote, sir, if you wanted to apply for the job. I’ll tell father you’re the best teacher here, sir..”

Professor Snape didn’t bother to answer that one, instead sweeping on around the dungeon. There was a pleasant silence floating round their corner of the dungeon for a while, then..

“I’m quite surprised the Mudbloods haven’t all packed their bags by now,” Draco’s drawled, “bet you five Galleons the next one dies. Pity it wasn’t Granger..”

Riko grit her teeth and eased the muscles in her shoulders, rolling them a little while continuing to glare into her cauldron and repeating ‘soon to be cured’ in her head. The bell rang at that moment and she breathed a sigh of relief. This was today’s last lesson, and she intended to make the most of the few hours before dinner. She could, of course, theoretically, go to the lair - but she could just as well follow the procession of Professor Snape leading the Gryffindors to their Herbology lesson with Hufflepuff.

Several of her housemates did just that, and they relaxed on the meadows near the glass houses, reading and enjoying the weather. Riko mostly spent the time napping in the warm sun to catch some rest before tonight’s exploring. And also, admittedly, to settle her mind a little, which worked much better in the pleasant free air of the outside. Draco not here and this not the lair reduced the urge to shove his teeth in, too. Even knowing what she did, about him, only went so far in curbing her temper, which was after all assulted by far more than his silly act. Perhaps she could come up with a nice idea for Lockhart, who had pissed her off so thoroughly in today’s first period..? With a tired sigh she resigned the idea to the bin, other things had priority, damn it all.

“.. right, Riko? Oi, you’re not really sleeping, are you?” cut Tony’s voice into her doze, making Riko mentally replay the last few seconds.

“Hm, no, I don’t think Sinistra has any ties to the heir, even if she probably doesn’t mind the night part of Astronomy being cancelled. She’s way too boring and hung up on her clock-work-theory view of stars and stuff.” Shrugging properly while curled up on warm grass was not as easy as one might think, actually, and Riko couldn’t really fault Blaise for his dry snort of laughter.

Tolerantly rolling her eyes at them, she joined the group effort of getting Transfigs homework done. What was done was done, and it could only help, having at least one thing off the list. That way she could, after a spot of “duelling practice” with Draco, because he _had_ learned better _already_ , and for it to “not be on” it had to be made _clear_ that it was not on, and Theo not knowing about her family had made clear it _wasn’t_ , and no matter how much Riko hated making anything known about herself, he had said it regarding Amy, who was _hers_ , and _known_ as hers, and so it was _double_ not on, so it really was a necessity, regardless of what Professor Snape may have said already.. Anyway, after that was settled, and Riko only a little singed, she could curl up on one of the polstered windowsills and doze over some of her research in the water-dappled sunbeams that made it through the lake.

The warm light had faded long before she snuck out again, of course, but she did feel almost a bit rested by then, which was nice. However, the warm fuzzy feeling from this, and not having to worry about McGonagall’s homework, was completely blown from her mind when they were confronted with a rather unexpected development that night. It was hard enough work, trying to find any clues on chamber entrances or exits for a theoretical guardian of Slytherin to use, or basically anything that might give any hint at all, or even just a single spider damn it! Anyway, that was hard enough already, what with the constant patrols of pairs of teachers or prefects or ghosts passing through every corridor and staring round for anything unusual. It had nothing, however, on being _tracked down_ on the fourth floor.

Even worse, however, was the belated realization they had most likely been herded there. "Belated realization" meaning recurring indications from her ninja-sonar leading to the Untouchables deciding to hide in the hidden passage behind the wide mirror, to let that pesky patrol that seemed to be following despite this being impossible pass them by, only to have, instead of a patrol, two outlines (after an invocation of the third form of Obscurantis recognizeable as two certain red-headed fourth-years) enter the picture _and_ go through the same mirror Riko and her friends were using for cover _and then_ look in their direction, back down to a parchment and up again, _exactly_ to where they were standing.

And that, right there, was the one great weakness of Obscurantis: if someone knew there was something, it wouldn’t do you much good at all.

Now that their pursuers were standing still, Riko had a better view on how the two Gryffindors had managed to get here unnoticed. They seemed to be using a sort of chameleon charm, it rippled when they moved but cloaked them pretty thoroughly when they didn’t.

“Well, good evening, gentlemen,” she said resignedly, making a small, polite gesture with her wand not aimed at them at all, while she called up a whisp of light between but above her friends and the duo. Paranoia, admittedly, but she wasn’t going to let any questionable parties have more info on her than she absolutely had to. “Nice bit of herding, there.”

“Oooh, nice going, ickle snakey,” grinned the left, only to receive a nudge from his brother’s elbow.

“She’s trying to be polite, Fred, be nice if we could solve this here acting all civilized and stuff, eh?” he said grandiosely and Riko’s cueroscope informed that this was really Fred talking but that he actually meant the rest he’d just said.

“Oh, yes, of course, dear brother mine,” warbled George with an exaggerated roll of eyes and mimicked a sort of bow.

Feeling Vi stand at her left shoulder and Edie at her right, both ready for pretty much anything but most of all guarding her, made Riko relax. Well, that and the offer of a talk. This, she could do. The Weasley Twins were damn smart, and they had after all been sort of allies last year, even if they’d never exchanged words about it.

“Very well then, honourable Messrs. Fred and George of the Weasley clan, how may we be of assistance and what would you offer in return?” she smiled politely, as if over tea and biscuits, and nodded at them in the right order. They stared a moment, eyebrows up, then they grinned sharply in a way that had Riko grin back instinctively. Fantastic, at least some mane-brains, except Amy, had some sense.

“Well, dear ickle ladies, we have noticed that despite this dreadful curfew and late time you three seem to be running round the school a lot,” George mock-inspected his fingernails critically, really looking the three of them over carefully under his lids as he spoke.

“So of course we grew curious, I’m sure you understand, what with you three obviously able to walk by right under the patrols’ noses, questions are bound to arise, no?” added Fred very mildly, ominously you might even say, wagging his eyebrows.

The implication was clear enough, but Riko knew it an empty shell. The two knew how close they were with Amy, after all, which meant they really were just curious. And potentially useful, too.

“Interesting. How did you notice? And I’d have thought it obvious enough, we’re looking for clues and hints, using a sort of notice-me-not, private spell,” she shrugged lightly, giving an easy smile as if it was really no big deal. It wasn’t, after all, what else were they supposed to do? Nothing?

The two traded looks between them she couldn’t quite decipher, then George eased his stance and refolded the parchment he’d still been holding.

“We have a tool that shows the layout of the school and who currently..”

“.. moves around where. So imagine our surprise, when..”

“.. we see a trio like yours bop around the patrols as if they’re..”

“..nothing but a bunch of snails you just don’t want under your soles..”

“Oh, that was a nice one, really.”

“Why yes, and thank you for the compliment.”

The two bowed to each other with much the same face of grave hilarity Vi and Riko often used (and at some, all the more hilarious, times Edie did as well), just for the fun of playing it up while gauging everything around them. It was a bit odd, to be on the receiving end of it, but also sort of entertaining, if she was honest. Riko pushed her wand back in her sleeve, while the two kept on one-upping each other. As if in reaction to this, the two knocked fists and the chameleon-effect seemed to run off them like water, disappearing where it should’ve formed a puddle at their feet. Huh, neat, she’d have to try and look it up, it had to be in the camouflage category, obviously, and.. anyway, very nice, they clearly had reached the stage of proper parley, focus now, priorities!

“I take it you didn’t see anything during any of the attacks that might give any hints? Or at another time?” Riko started them politely.

“Alas, no, you need to be looking at it, after all, and the attacks were not done at any reasonable time for us to be watching it..” Fred sighed dramatically.

“Of course now we’re having it in sight almost all the time, unless we’re in class or something..” George shrugged.

Riko caught the hint of frustration in their tone and nodded. It was a very useful tool, but in the current situation also a very passive thing to do.

“Can you perhaps tell us the exact circumstances of the last attack?” she asked, because over the last two days this had been part of the things bugging her most, that she’d exploded at Amy’s two Gryffs without even finding out why the bloody hell they hadn’t been with her at the time. “I’ll share what we’ve found out so far, though I warn you it hasn’t really been helpful yet.”

It was a fair offer, she thought, after all if any details of the last attack _had_ been useful, then someone would’ve made something of it already. Except dragging Hagrid to Azkaban and removing Dumbledore, of course. The two traded another look and seemed to agree with her inner reasoning.

“We’ll ask Ron and Harry, McGonagall took them to her after the attack,” nodded Fred, then both looked expectantly at her.

Riko sighed and drew her hand through her hair, thinking quickly. Gloria would be pointless, she’d probably want to kill the two tricksters as soon as they opened their mouths, or even before that, and they didn’t have a griffin feather. A list of books would be useless, too, and..

“Well, we’ve found out there are actually four secret, or rather hidden chambers that house the guardians each of the founders left to defend the castle. Like in that adventure book, who’d ’ve though, eh? Current evidence suggests that whatever monster is messing around the school now probably showed up first fifty years ago. At the time Hagrid was a student here and had a, well, smaller monster, a spider, but it never attacked anyone.

But he got found out by some prefect called Riddle, bit of a wanker, and nobody believed him, of course, that his spider or he were innocent, so he was expelled and thrown into Azkaban until Dumbledore got him out and made him apprentice to the ground keeper. From what we know, the real monster is some sort of reptile and probably discorporeal, which makes it near impossible to find any helpful clues.

So we’re really mostly looking for the right guardian to deal with it, which seems to be Slytherin’s, but, well, no success so far. You can try talking to Ravenclaw’s, he might give you some hints we didn’t get. I assume you know Ravenclaw’s entrance, yeah? Right. You ever work with metals?”

Riko grinned at the insulted looks she got for the question and carefully pulled out the small ingot from one of her pockets, throwing it over. “Y’got to channel through it, ’s not exactly hard to do, just a bit tricky. Make sure you check the, well, vibration or whatever, from the bird first ’cause if you get it wrong it might explode in your hand.”

Giving them a twinkly smile she wriggled the finger of her right hand. She hadn’t really gotten hurt, much, but she’d be damned if she’d let herself get accused of setting them up later. The two only nodded back with an easy grin and mirroring raised eyebrows. For a second she was envious of having a twin, but then she remembered she had Vi. And the others, too, of course.

“Pft, children these days,” grinned Fred, disappearing the ingot up his sleeve and nodded. “Right then, we’ll owl you.”

“Soon as we get it out of Ron and Harry, and if we learn anything else, too,” continued George, eyeing them thoughtfully.

“So, why didn’t you ask them yourself, you got classes with them and all?” enquired Fred, seemingly voicing his twin’s question.

“Oh, we had some words..” said Riko very neutrally, after a moment of banked chagrin.

“..it just wasn’t very productive,” commented Vi drily from behind her, relieving her of the chore to find nice words for it all.

“Raised tempers, y’know how that goes, I’m sure,” ended Edie in a warm tone of mild amusement.

It reminded Riko of their first breakfast at Hogwarts this year and she had to stifle a laugh. The twins obviously caught the general meaning of the reference and raised their mirroring eyebrows again, talking just with a shared look between them.

“Indeed, we do,” Fred grinned, throwing a very telling look at Riko.

She only shrugged and they mirrored her move, then bowed properly, clearing the entrance as if offering to hold open a door. With an amused huff she easily moved forward, her friends had her back after all. The corridor looked empty enough, which was one of the great advantages of this secret tunnel. Much like the barrier at Kings Cross, you just walked through it like it wasn’t there from the outside, but from the inside it really wasn’t there at all and you could watch everything that went on in the corridor.

They quickly pressed against the wall right beside the mirror’s edge, waving their Obscurantis in place while they weren’t in sight of the two Gryffindors, and hurried on. Riko was now constantly checking with her sonar, but they weren’t followed again. Even so they weren’t going to get much done this night and they knew it. None of them were the sort to panic in a sudden situation, but this didn’t mean handling stressful stuff didn’t take a lot of their energy, and it was already damn late, or rather early, already. With the info they could be tracked on what had to be an actual map of the school didn’t ease their minds at all, and it was clear they couldn’t go back to their room now. Just fantastic, seriously.

*

The next two weeks continued to be utterly disgusting in much the way that first Monday, the day after Amy’s attack, had been, growing ever more so the more time passed. The school climate turned so sharply against Slytherin that they were advised by the prefects to not walk around in groups of less than three. Bole from the Quidditch team had almost bashed his head to mush when someone hit him with a Confundus mid-stride up a moving stair, and Griffiths, the shy, dark-skinned firstie, got all her nails and hair hexxed off in the library, and those were just the ones Riko bothered to really take note of, with people she at least knew somewhat, if not actively. Draco’s continued act was no help with that trend, of course.

On the other hand, Riko could understand him at least a little and since none of them could really fix the root issue, or the resentment, or the way it was casually tolerated as just pranks, har-dee-har, he actually did help, in a very round-the-corner way. No one in their year had been targeted so far, with him drawing so much attention yet nobody daring to really go after him for it. And Riko would be the very last person to not understand holding your head up in a shitty situation, and that was what her housemates were doing here. Of course Draco went way overboard, but, well, he was Draco Malfoy, was a King Cobra. What did people expect them to do? Crawl and apologize? For something they hadn’t done, something many had always learned was right, no matter if it was or not? Hah.

Even the most quiet and mellow of her housemate was soon to be seen only in whatever they counted as full house-coloured regalia, always in taste, of course, else The Asp or Leiopython would have a word with you, but still, it was all Up Slytherin pride. _We care not for your shitty opinion_ was the new silent motto, and looking after your housemates even more mandatory than before.

Riko herself drew far less trouble than most from the schools populace, thanks to Amy’s state, and while she’d found it irritating in Potter’s case it was nothing to this. But, practically viewed, it was at first odd and then yet another bother to handle, to properly capitalize on, be seen with not Draco but the more quiet sides of their year, marking them as equally alright. At least the Weasley Twins were as good as their word, sending an owl over for Thursday breakfast, but unfortunately there really was no useful info to be had, there.

Amy had claimed some sort of epiphany while walking with Potter and Ronald to the big staircase in the Entrance Hall and then dashed off to the library without leaving them any clue or hint. When she was found, she and Prefect Clearwater had clearly been on the way back, and a small circular mirror had been found lying next to them. That was it.

The three Untouchables visited Madam Pince in the hopes of finding out what Amy had wanted, or done, or asked, but the librarian only knew Amy had wanted to take out an ancient book on reptiles - one they’d gone through already, ages ago. She’d asked for the slip of who had it taken out now, to add her name on the waiting list, but then she’d seen Prefect Clearwater. Miss Granger had then raced over to the girl. They’d talked, properly quiet, this was a library, after all, so the librarian didn’t know about what, and she assumed Miss Granger had put her name on the list, for she had written something on it, but then they’d raced outside in a manner that was really quite improper in a library. Madam Pince had kept it in mind because those two were usually so well-behaved it had seemed odd. And for Miss Granger to forget to return the slip, most odd. The slip, however, hadn’t been found with the two girls, she’d of course asked Madam Pomfrey about it. No, she didn’t know from memory who had the book now, that was what those slips were for, after all.

It was clearly a hint and also clearly a dead-end, what with the slip nowhere to be found. It fit right into the whole finding hints without gaining anything from it, and thus into the entire bloody fucking frustrating year. By the second Thursday after the attack Riko was so sick of their pointless searches she suggested looking for the Hufflepuff guardian instead. It had to be better than hoping to find some sort of completely unknown exit or entrance to the secret passages the as yet unknown Slytherin guardian used. Yes, it was probably a big snake, with the tendency of the coat of arms to depict the guardian, but that didn’t really help - by now she’d checked through her dorms about a thousand times, to no avail.

Thius, Saturday night found them at the entrance to Hufflepuff, waiting for Vi and ready to check it’s close vicinity first. So far they had mostly checked the deeper levels of the Hufflepuff side of the dungeon. After all, if whoever the guardian was liked to meet Rikash, outside then their chamber would likely be level with the ground outside. Vi had also done some looking inside the den, both alone and after smuggling them in at night, but to no avail, although there were, just like in the Slytherin lair, numerous corridors extending farther down.

Riko idly traced her eyes along the structures of the wall opposite her, while her mind wandered. She still found it funny that of the four houses only the Gryffindors didn’t have a nice descriptive name for their own rooms. Eyry, Den, Lair, and.. tower. But then, with how fixated Gloria was on absolute truthfulness, perhaps it came from there. Ego, too. We live in the tower, says a person living in a castle with at least five of them. Lazily, and perhaps a little tiredly, leaning against the wall behind her as much as against Edie beside her, Riko enjoyed the quiet. She really liked the entrance to Hufflepuff’s Den. Not that she didn’t like those of the other houses, they were fine enough, there was a reason she liked occasionally hanging round the Ravenclaw entrance for new kennings, and they were certainly fitting, and the one to the Lair was of course fantastic simply by being not visible at all, true, but Hufflepuff’s was just really _nice_.

A thick tapestry, depicting a great hearth, or rather depicting a great big fire with hints of the hearth that housed it on it’s edges. You’d tell it the password, and the fire would come alive with a great big whoosh of heat and light, and then you’d step through it, inside. It wasn’t really fire then, of course, only if you stayed standing there, which was wicked nice all on its own. And interesting, the weave was bonded to the wall, and not just with the two brightly gleaming brass poles, either. Yes, they fixed the upper and lower edges, but if you tried to pry it away from the wall on the sides, you never got very far. At most, you could lift it to where the fire started being depicted. Perhaps it wasn’t even so much a tapestry as yet another very smart piece of wall with lots of imagination, or maybe rather a stubborn decision to serve as a nice entrance, or a former fireplace as wanted to be a weave, who knew. In any case, while waiting for Vi they’d already checked it every-which way, and there didn’t seem to be any double ways to open it. Which probably made sense, this being Hufflepuff after all, but anyway, it was better to check and make sure.

“You sure Hufflepuff’s guardian is going to help us,” asked Edie after a while very quietly.

Well, she didn’t really ask, and when Riko looked over to her she had a feeling the question wasn’t what Edie had really wanted to ask, either. It was not new, for Edie to act like that, but it was always a riddle, and Riko didn’t feel up to it right now. If Vi asked something oblique it was usually reasonably easy to read it, but Edie was sort of a mystery when she did it.

“Yup, sure, I mean, Hufflepuffs are helpful and such, so attitude shouldn’t be the problem, and he or she’s obviously the one with the most in common with Slytherin’s guardian, and the best bet to know how one can reach him. I mean, we tried looking for the Slytherin entrance for, like, the entire time? I’m starting to think he might not even have one single, main entrance, perhaps he just used all the exits of his guardian? Which we seem to be completely unable to find, too.”

Riko let her head fall back against the wall with a grumpy sigh. It was a valid strategy to answer Edie’s not-questions as long as possible, in the hopes she was just winding round to the actual subject, but the answer itself was one of Riko’s biggest sources of frustration. Why was it that Slytherin’s chamber and guardian were so utterly impossible to find? The two they had found were hidden, sure, but in a reasonable way, if you looked at it objectively. But if you applied the same logic to the search for the Slytherin guardian and his chambers you ran against a complete lack of any sort of hints. It was disgusting and disturbing and it seriously pissed her off, a lot. Was she really so much of a failure that she couldn’t seem to make any sort of progress in finding what should be her guardian? What the hell was going on here? And why did this entire situation make absolutely no sense? Why had everyone forgotten about the guardians? Why..

“But maybe he or she won’t tell us because they, too, want to keep the discretion of their companion. Or even friend, if they’re that close,” murmured Edie.

“Hm,” said Riko thoughtfully, feeling oddly unsure. Was it just a worry about their mission, rather justified after the talks they’d had with the guardians so far, or was this Edie asking mild, generic questions to find about a real issue in relation to her friends? She did that sometimes and even Riko didn’t catch it all the time.

Was there a reason for Edie to think in such ways? Or was it just Riko thinking that Edie might be thinking in such ways because she still hadn’t told her friends and was personally enjoying the discretion of her friend who just so happened to be a Hufflepuff? Was she perhaps giving Edie reason to think that way right now by not answering right away? Gah. She wanted to sleep for about a month or so, damn all this. But that was useless grumbling, and Riko had never made a habit of being useless when there was still so much to do, and it did seem like they were Hagrid’s only hope, she certainly couldn’t count on Potter to solve this mess.

“Hm,” she repeated, hoping to not have triggered exactly the things she’d been worrying about just now. “I think they’ll understand the situation. And, knowing all about their friend, they’ll probably be able to give us a way of reaching him that won’t break their discretion. Or at least a better hint, y’know, than the other two. I mean.. sure, they’re bound to be loyal, but being a guardian they wouldn’t keep secrets that are real bad or harmful..”

Edie hmm-ed, not at all reassuring Riko, but then Vi showed up and Riko quickly cleaned away the line of chalk around them and the Scutum Strepiti it had anchored. In the next few hours of checking every little inch of wall, moving first to the right of the entrance, they found two other side-entrances to the den, one of them a lengthy balcony on the outside, and one hidden room that seemed to have been used as a sort of glass-house ages and ages ago. Then they turned back and went to check to the left of the entrance.

When they did find it, it was really thanks to Edie. Vi had showed them the big brass statue of a massive, sitting bear and explained what it did. Riko had found the description a bit odd and wanted to try it out and somehow, just by watching and being brilliant, Edie figured it out. The bear was sitting with his back to the wall, one big paw on his left leg, the other one held out just a little, as if raising it to shake someone’s hand. Which was exactly what one usually did. You gave him your hand, as if to shake it, and then he’d close his paw round your hand and look at you, coming alive a little. It was, mostly, just a curiosity to entertain muggleborn first-years, or the occasional person interested in imbuing metals with live-like behaviour. It was also rather, well, intimidating, if Riko was honest.

The statue was really big, just sitting there. Whenever she put her hand forward and touched the paw Riko had to keep herself from jerking back instinctively when it started to, well, wake, or however you wanted to call it. Call her paranoid, but she couldn’t help being very uncomfortably aware of how big and potentially lethal the paw closed around her hand was, not to mention the very, ah, impressive bear itself. It would open it’s eyes, you noticed only then they’d been closed, and also just how finely crafted and life-like the statue was, and then yawn, widely. Then it regarded you with an oddly piercing look from its brightly golden eyes. When you waited, torn between curiosity and an odd, probably instinctual worry about the massive beast turning on you, it yawned again. Nothing else happened, after that, so Riko drew her hand back with some relief.

“Told you,” said Vi with a dry grin. “Tried it myself a few times already, but it doesn’t really do anything.”

“Hm,” said Edie, but now it didn’t sound worrying at all, only thoughtful.

She looked at it from all sides, then she stepped forward and took his paw, too, shaking it a little. Riko had done that too, it didn’t seem to have any effects. Then Edie went a little insane, there was really no other way to say it.

When the bear lowered his head politely and nodded to her, and then yawned in a way that was definitely not polite at all, unless you were a bear Riko supposed, Edie raised her other hand and put it in his maw. Which couldn’t be polite, either, but much more relevantly, it was obviously and completely and thoroughly insane.

Riko had seen the teeth well enough, not looking dirty at all despite their bright unoxidised colour, simply because they were indeed so very bright and sharp they didn’t look yellow but rather gleamed in a very clear, toothy way. She couldn’t exactly describe it, but it was just too damn life-like for her taste. The sound it made upon closing it’s mouth after the yawn was the sort of final you didn’t want anywhere near your digits, or any part of you, seriously.

At Edie’s act of insanity, the bear’s eyes flared brightly. In a moment the gold was gone replaced by a fierce, bluish white. Vi and Riko quickly stepped forward to try and save their friend’s hand, and Edie in general, because who knew how it’d react to having a hand shoved in it’s mouth, Riko wouldn’t appreciate that, either. Instead, they were handed Edie, very gently, by the bear - who had taken her in both paws and picked her up like a little kid. Then it rose and made a bow of perfect courtesy, offering them entry into the arc behind it, which had been hidden behind it’s massive form.

Her heart still thundering in her chest, Riko gripped Edie’s right forearm tightly and, together with Vi, who did the same on the other side, they hurriedly dragged their friend past the bear and into the rather narrow corridor.

“Are you.. No, y’know what, You. Are. Insane,” Riko pressed out between her teeth when they were a little away from the bear. It had sat down again, it’s back to them, closing the tunnel. Maybe they’d have to poke it to get out again, but right now.. Edie.. just.. Argh! “Absolutely, totally..”

“..and in all other ways?” smiled Edie at her, and Riko bit her tongue and took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves.

Edie was a little pale, now that she looked, but she was smiling happily, and that was so rare a thing compared to the last few weeks that Riko felt herself relax almost automatically. She let go ruefully of her friend’s arm, patting it awkwardly, and leaned against the wall, running her hand through her hair. Vi had done likewise and there was a moment of silence.

“Stars and shades, you are fantastic, no doubt, and utterly insane, but yeah, I’d rather not play pot calling the kettle black, just.. what by all the flipping skirts of Loki’s snake-son were you thinking?” Riko asked, feeling her heartbeat even out.

“Well, it seemed very clear,” Edie grinned impishly for a moment, then took pity on them and their aghast looks.

“Well, look at the entrances to the Den. It’s usually about doing something different than the first impulse would suggest. You wouldn’t usually just step into a fire if it roared up before you; you wouldn’t just set your foot into thin air; and you wouldn’t just put your free hand in the one place most likely to harm it. So, clear, right?”

Well, huh. Put that way, Riko had to agree. Cultural understanding had changed a lot in the last thousand years, of course, but Edie had it right, definitely. Or perhaps it was also because both Vi and Riko were more used to fire and falling not being something you worried about overmuch, because they were other kinds of insane than Edie.

“Right,” nodded Vi drily just then, “totally clear.”

Riko grinned at the tone and the proud smile Vi shot at Edie. She nodded as well, clapping her friend on the shoulder. “Fantastic, I said so, and insane, which is why we all get on so well, eh?”

Edie smiled back and then the three of them took a closer, more aware look around. The corridor was curved to the right, the ceiling arched not as highly above them as was usual in the castle, and there were glowing bands on the walls, one just above the floor, one about chest-high and one about a foot over head-high, all giving off a warm, slightly yellowish light. No visible doors were leading off it. They followed the corridor to a smallish round room with two doors, one window and one sort-of-stairway leading down. Trading looks they first tried the doors, one of which led into the empty Hufflepuff common room. From the other side it was only recognizable by a small paw-relief in one of the arches, which they only knew because Vi had checked that exact spot for clues without finding anything.

The other door led to a large balcony, hewn and embedded skilfully in the rocks, and, if Riko wasn’t completely blind, disguised in the same manner as the Slytherin windows and the other balcony. That had been a walkway, though, where this was clearly a terrace meant for hosting a decent number of people. Crafty arches linked overhead, as if for spanning up something, and Riko could see a few glints of metal in them. Clearly there were powerful magics imbued in them, and she was going to come back here and check it all out, but for now they had other things to do.

“Really fantastic, though,” she said, stretching, enjoying the balmy air and unhindered look at the stars.

Both Edie and Vi nodded at that, getting her meaning and thinking the very same thing if the glint in their eyes was any indication. A little regretfully they went back inside, which was no problem as they had held the door open, not caring to be locked out. They looked critically at the odd stair-thing and then at each other again. It was only a handful of steps, but they looked a little, well, crooked. Or circular. Or something of the sort, it was really hard to align it with what normal geometry cared to let you do. One of the things that made it so odd, was the slide that ran on the outside of the stairs and the, well, problem? Fun fact? Anyway, it was clearly longer than the few steps would take you.

“Well, the slide looks both more fun and honest,” said Riko after a moment and with a grin she stepped up to the tight-high niche.

And it really was fun, sliding down with ever-increasing speed, a steady warm glow like the one of the bands in the corridor appearing around and travelling along her, so she could see the rock of the wall to her side change from one sort to another, glinting off veins and such for the short moments as she sped past them. Somewhat similar to riding the cart at Gringotts, but more relaxed and thus also more relaxing, just fair, unhurried fun. Then the air around was much thicker than just a few moments ago, slowing her down rapidly but gently. And then she was at the end of the slide, hastily stepping off to not get run-in, and looked around in this new room.

There was still the odd handful of steps beside the slide, and beyond it Riko could see the room she had supposedly just left behind, as if it was just a few yards away. To the right of it was the slide she had just ridden, and somewhere along it she could see two small lights glow. She grinned and took the few steps up. Yup, here she was, in the round room again. Riko almost, almost laughed out loud then, because that Helga Hufflepuff had sure known how to have a good time, hadn’t she? Ye gods, how brilliant was that, it was practical, sure, but it was also fun, just like the entrance-fire and, my, how Riko would’ve loved to meet that fine lady.

But that thought alone made her shake her head and hurry down again, taking the steps this time. They weren’t here to have fun, they had a damn important mission and besides, if she’d start to laugh, Riko wasn’t quite sure how fast she could’ve stopped or just what kind of laughter it would’ve turned into. Not much more embarrassing than hysterical laughter when she had things to do, seriously.

“That.. wow, that’s really..” Edie said, looking at her a little oddly as she took the few steps down to them.

“Completely fantastic?” Riko suggested with a grin and Vi’s snort of laughter told her she’d hit home.

“Yeah, no doubt,” smiled Edie indulgently and they scouted into the large dark room, each conjuring up a whisp.

Just like the room and corridor upstairs, this room was remarkable low-ceilinged for it’s size, almost crypta-like. It wasn’t low, as such, but they could clearly see the ceiling some five or six yards above them, which was rather uncommon for a room this size. And it was most definitely a room, not a cave, the walls of the living stone hewn with great skill in gentle curves and practical arches. The layout of the room seemed to be elliptical or perhaps egg-shaped and they passed a number of massive work-desks with equally massive cupboards and shelves peppered beside them. It was all very neatly ordered and the tables were clear of clutter or abandoned work.

Quietly, they passed one massive arch leading east, guarded by a great carved wooden door. Then, they were just nearing what would be the top of the egg, they heard a sort of huffing snort. And then, before Riko could really catch on, Edie had drawn both Vi and her behind herself. And from the shadow of one of the squat columns into the light of their whisps stepped a, well, a mountain of a bear, really, it was just that far beyond such words as massive or big. The height of it’s shoulders was about that of Gloria’s at least and it was looking at them in a way that could most optimistically described as curious. And it had obviously risen and moved without making any sound they had managed to notice, which did absolutely nothing to calm Riko’s nerves.

“Well met, little ones,” it rumbled, and Riko could feel the deep sound tickling something in her guts.

It was quite different from Gloria’s weirdly bell-like voice, more, hm, grounded, perhaps, but no less overwhelming for it. Riko was usually good at just moving with the flow of odd situations, but this was just.. just a little too massive?

“Well met, erm, big one,” Edie said for them, her hands still clamped around their forearms, and Riko was oddly glad for the unreasonably strong grip because without it grounding her, heh, like that, she might’ve started laughing hysterically at the entire situation.

The inside of her head was feeling oddly scrambled and perhaps Madam P had actually had a point when she’d claimed children needed their sleep. On the other hand, the bear didn’t seem to mind, so that was alright then. Probably. In some way, she just wasn’t quite sure how or..

“Be welcome in my den,” the bear’s voice rolled over them, after her low, rumbling laugh had probably scrambled most of Riko’s innards. “Viatrix is my name, companion of Helja and guardian of the school and all who call it home. What am I to call you little guests, and what brings you children down here, hmm?”

Well. That was very, er, direct. Which was a good thing, to be sure. Riko tugged a little more on Edie’s hand and her friend let them both go, throwing them a short, apologetic smile over her shoulder. Riko rolled her eyes at her friend, stepping up beside her and clapping her on the shoulder to show her gratitude.

“Riko Slyver, at your service,” she bowed and smiled carefully without showing any teeth because as pleasant as Viatrix’s manner seemed, she looked very much like any other great big brown bear, except bigger of course. Where both Gloria and Rikash had been obviously something else, their current host held no visible hint of it’s magical or intellectual nature.

“Vi,” bowed Vi, and Riko looked at her from the corner of her eye. She looked almost as stressed as the time she had faced off with Gloria, but from the stubborn set of her jaw she wasn’t going to even try and be overly polite this time. Great. Fantastic even. Nothing better than adding a few more problems to the situation, really.

“Edana Eohyrde,” stated Edie easily, with a pleasant nod, and Riko found herself wondering how her friend could be quite that relaxed.

Not that she herself wasn’t calm, but, well, this was not a situation to underestimate and Edie, reasonable and dependable Edie, suddenly going all chill-and-relax on them was a rather odd development.

There was a moment of silence, Riko burrowing through all the bits and pieces in her head for a way explain the situation best to their host, noting absently that Viatrix was so far the first to actually address them as children instead of using her own species or personal or whatever-related term and how that might be best interpreted..

And then Edie apparently decided it was a good idea to just go at it.

“We’re really looking for Slytherin’s guardian, no offence to you, of course, and we were hoping you could help us find him,” she said and, gods and spirits, was she mental? Well, yes, of course, but still..

“It’s because there’s a monster that’s been petrifying students, and our friend has been blamed and taken away even though he’s innocent, and it seems the matter is something that’d be his, well, uh.. responsibility,” Riko added hastily, not really liking the last word but just a little to frazzled to come up with a better one.

“Yeah, and nobody seems to remember you guardians at all, or how to reach you, instead they’re just all blaming the ‘Slytherin monster’,” Vi’s voice reached a shade of sarcasm at the last few words that Riko usually only heard in connection with the Drake family, and she blinked at her friend, a little surprised, both that Vi was that level of bothered by it and that she, Riko, hadn’t even noticed.

“Hmmm,” rolled another another wave of growling sound over them, raising the fine hair on Riko’s neck and arms. Viatrix looked at them with her, well, not small, but small-ish, dark bear-eyes, probably not quite sure what to make of them.

“That’s quite some yipping you carry down here,” Viatrix rumbled at last, then fixed her eyes on Edie. “You want to find Salazar’s companion and need my help for it, hmm,” she shook her massive head, the movement travelling down the rest of her body, making it resemble a starting landslide. “Focus, children, hm, it’s good to know a lot, but don’t lose your focus, mhm..”

Riko threw a worried look at Vi, seeing her startled reaction mirrored there. Edie lightly touched their arms and stepped forward again.

“Yes, that’s right,” she said, clearly meaning all of it. Which was alright, of course, and would hopefully lead to some real clues at last, damn it all.

Viatrix gave another, well, sneeze of laughter, though it sounded more like thunder rolling round the room and straight through Riko’s insides, again.

“You travel with flighty company, little Edana, lightning and gale and a cub of winter’s curse named for fire’s dance, hmm,” Viatrix“ voice rumbled over them and damn it if that hairy great ah, mountain was going after Edie because of her lycanthrophy Riko would up and rip her a new one, no matter what else, this was not on, so completely not..

“Right you are,” answered Edie easily, amiably even, seemingly actually in a good mood about it, and Riko had to look twice down to where her friend was obviously trying to calm her with another light touch at their arms. “So, what can you tell us? We really need to find him,” Edie said, quite conversationally, as if she was talking to Lea or something, and Riko dearly hoped her friend could explain all of..this, later.

“Hmmmmm, you do, mhm,” Viatrix rumbled and Riko wished she could better judge the great bear’s tone and mood. There had to be a way, she did have different tones, definitely, but it was as if she was missing half the conversation here.

“We are good friends and I worry about him,” the bear huffed, almost as though to herself, then raised her big shaggy head, talking in a rumbling, moaning voice of great weight. “We met in the forest or here, so I cannot tell you the way, but there was a road that led to an entrance into the ground. I never cared for it, I have my own and I respect a friend’s den and path, but you should know or find it. It led through much of the forest, not far from the lake, for he did always like it.”

“Oh,” said Edie, “thank you.”

“Why do you worry about him?” asked Vi and Riko at the same time.

This time, as Viatrix blew what felt like a very warm wind from her snout, there was more of a growling in it than before, but neither of the three Untouchables was going to back down. Edie did place herself as point again, though, and Riko could see her friend was starting to be just a little tense now, between her shoulders. Nothing averse happened, however.

“There is something bad in the air,” rumbled Viatrix after a rather pronounced pause, and this time Riko didn’t need Edie’s sign to let it go. They had a clue, certainly a better one than anything else they’d found all year, and if it wasn’t smart to tickle a sleeping dragon it was even less advisable to annoy a giant mountain of a bear when standing right in front of it, no doubt about it.

“Oh.. thank you,” both Vi and her answered, remarkably steadily if she said so herself, and all three of them bowed deep farewells and hurried back to the stairs. Riko didn’t feel even remotely safe until they were back in the small corridor with it’s light bands.

“Seriously, Edie, you gonna explain that one, later, right?” she said, distractedly checking over her shoulder again, because she was still having that weird paranoid itch between her shoulders.

“Sure, but from how pasty you two look I think we better call it a night now, eh?” said her friend, seemingly entirely relaxed.

Riko shot a look at Vi and felt oddly comforted by the matching puzzled expression there. And their bird-brain, odd as she was currently acting, was right. None of them argued Edie’s decree, and when she woke on Sunday to already-shining sunlight dancing through water, Riko felt better than in quite a while. This mood persisted through the entire day, for all three Untouchables, and this although they were spending it in the library with only very short breaks for meals. They had some solid leads, at last, now, that was _something_.


	19. The Chamber of Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, the title does say it all.. kinda^_^;

Yes, they were in the library, on a sunny Sunday, looking at maps of the grounds they _were_ _currently and had been for two years now occupying_ , because for some utterly unfathomable, positively inconceivable reason it was now also forbidden to fly unsupervised. As if whatever had hunted down people in the school, _inside the bloody castle_ , would suddenly materialize in the air to chomp students down from their broomsticks. Thus the three remaining Untouchables were again busy looking for old maps of the grounds. Unfortunately, just like last year, they had a hell of a time finding anything at all, and if they did manage to stumble upon some scraps they were often contradicting, with little indication of which of the sources was wrong, or right, or perhaps none of them were correct in any way at all.

Branching out to use any and all means possible, they started to use their nights for surveillance flights, trying to find remains of any sort of street from the air, but it didn’t yield any results, either. It also tired them out much faster, and even with the different spells for increasing sight in the dark Edie and Vi suffered more than Riko, who was more used to this sort of thing. The most depressing thing, or, well, one of them, was that they still had to keep from raising any sort of suspicion. Now it was not because Hagrid might go to their heads of house but because in the current paranoid climate if they didn’t, they might well meet him soon enough, in Azkaban. It made Riko’s temper boil ever closer to the surface, but she grit her teeth and refused to linger on those useless thoughts.

That gigantic bear had been worried about the guardian of Slytherin, who obviously wasn’t up for his usual job despite all other guardians holding him in respect, and Rikash had even called him hard to fool, well, whatever was going on, it couldn’t be any sort of good. But anyway, it was easier to fall asleep, tired out from flying or bowing over useless old tomes and scrolls, if you didn’t let your mind run in circles, so that’s what she tried to do. It helped to think of Binn’s droning. They had to take to using shorter parts of the night, because otherwise they’d get caught by falling asleep, and the fact of potential time lost was gnawing at Riko’s calm like fire on a book.

They also hadn’t heard from the Weasley Twins again, which had to mean they hadn’t found anything helpful, because Riko was not going to assume anything else, no thank you, she was busy enough. The first Transfigs lesson after they’d talked to Viatrix, McGonagall had kindly reminded them of the incoming exams, as in _next bloody week_! Well, actually the grumpy professor, or rather extra-grumpy-professor, what with all the teachers still doing their nightly patrols, had simply written the time and place for the exams on the blackboard, but pot, kettle, black.

“Exams?” Seamus Finnegan howled, in a tone that sounded almost as if he’d just found a dead person by that name. “We’re still getting exams?”

Riko plonked her head on the table, tuning out the other Gryffindor’s exclamations and groans and McGonagall’s stern rebukes, to look over to Theo under cover of her hair. What with the Slytherins now being an even number and Amy gone she was usually partnering with her protégée and if she was honest it was a rather even partnership they had going in this subject. And she had really forgotten all about the exams, what kind of patron was she, bollocks, Theo had to pass them if he was to stay in their year. Admittedly, it wouldn’t really be a problem, they had spent enough time going through everything again and again in all the time they were now forced to spend in the lair, but still.

At least this time she didn’t have to worry about her potential bad grades getting him in trouble. If he made the cut he’d stay, easy as that. Well, now that she thought on it, he had started asking the odd question here and there, it seemed she’d been revising with him without even realizing. He caught her looking and gave a flash of rueful (aka embarrassed) smirk, proving her correct. Answering with a dry smile and a sigh Riko raised her head from her table; McGonagall was finished handling her crazy lions, griffins, mane-brains, whatever, and she had no desire to catch the eye of the incensed professor. Better leave that to the much-more deserving Ronald, whose broken wand had just started to whistle loudly.

Riko didn’t manage to turn her pair of white rabbits into slippers this period, but counted herself entertained well enough regardless, just watching the duo of Amy’s insane charges. What, you had to take your entertainment where you could, and at least Vi and her had tomorrow afternoon free, Charms again cancelled for one of Professor Flitwick’s holidays. But the week wore on with more useless research and exploring, dumping Riko’s mood further and further down and making her think more and more often of going down to Viatrix again. Edie had said they shouldn’t, and explained a lot about the talk and what Vi and her had missed, and yes, Riko did accept Edie was best to judge that one, but still.. or maybe Rikash..

On Friday, however, McGonagall made an announcement over breakfast that changed everything, made the sun bright again and the food taste like food instead of just stuff.

“I have good news,” she said, uncommonly warmly, when the entire school had fallen utterly silent just after seeing her rise.

At the words, the silence was swept away by a wave of exclamations. “Dumbledore’s coming back!” several people yelled, others shouted variants of “You caught the monster-slash-heir of Slytherin“.

McGonagall waited until they’d all fallen silent again before answering in a tone much closer to her usual stern and clipped manner. “Professor Sprout has informed me the Mandrakes are ready, at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive the petrified people, one of which is bound to have seen their attacker. I am rather pleased this dreadful year will end with the real culprit being caught at last.”

Riko blinked at the rather, well, almost vengeful wording. Was the deputy, no, current acting headmistress trying to trigger the supposed heir into betraying themselves? It seemed like it from the sound of it, but McGonagall had been there when Dumbledore had said it wasn’t about who but how? What the bloody hell was _this_ now? The Untouchables joined the loud cheering, of course, but when it had ended they looked at each other, obviously all having the same questions without any answers coming up. Riko was absently staring off into space and only noticed Ginny Weasley because the girl was all but racing from the Great Hall. Movement always drew her eye, especially if it was sudden, completely normal that, as was her staring after said girl, nothing paranoid about it.

“Bit odd, hm,” said Vi beside her and Riko felt vindicated against herself.

“Yeah, but, well, she might’ve forgot something, or be looking for her Ravenclaw friend or whatever,” said Riko, perhaps a little smugly.

“Hm,” said Edie, and it wasn’t the good sort of hm. “I think her and Lovegood haven’t been spending much time lately. Overheard a bit, been sitting around enough in the common room the last couple weeks,” she rolled her eyes a little and smiled at their questioning looks. “I do get some of what’s going on in my house, yeah.”

“Course you do, pf,” grinned Riko easily, her mood lighting further. Hah, take that, heir or Lockhart or any other person or thing that had decided to piss her off over the last few weeks. Tomorrow Amy would be back and Hagrid would get released and damn it all, this was really good! Hah!

And with all those idiotic restrictions soon to be removed and Amy back they were bound to find the Slytherin entrance soon, and then she could go and find out what was going on with Ginny. There had to be a reason she wasn’t hanging with her friend any more. She’d seemed utterly miserable at the idea of having hurt this Luna, Riko was curious what was going on now, and with the big mystery solving itself tomorrow, she thought it was only fair to get herself another, easier one.

But for now she was high on actually being in a good mood again. Charms was fantastic, despite Professor Flitwick just revising older, theoretical stuff Riko usually wouldn’t care about at all. Not that Vi and her took any real notes today, their shared parchment was instead full of cheerful conversation and comments. As they made their way outside, single file and with a detour to deposit the Hufflepuffs at Binn’s room, Riko couldn’t help but wave goodbye to Vi with a pitying grin. Her friend was now stuck inside with probably the most boring, subject-killing teacher in the world and without good company, too. Meanwhile, Professor Flitwick was taking them outside, where it was being a picture-book perfect summer.

Professor Sprout was in a mood that could best be described as jubilant and Riko was for the first time able to actually enjoy the cessation of McDougal’s hostilities. The girl hadn’t apologized, of course, but after the attack on Amy she’d quietly sat at Edie and Riko’s table again and given them a shy look, which was much the same. So far, Riko had just taken it as it came, but today, in the bright sun and surrounded by all the green and strong smells of plants, just sitting around a table and repeating what they had learned since last week about Abyssinian Shrivelfigs, well, that was what summer and sun and great mood was all about.

Then McGonagall’s voice suddenly echoed around them, loud enough to make the leaves of the plants shudder.

“All students return to their dormitories at once. All teachers to the staff room. Immediately, please.”

It hit like a big bucket of ice water. Professor Sprout went pale as snow under her freckles and Riko felt a shiver creep up her spine as she exchanged a look with Edie. What could possibly be going on? Was it another attack? Had the supposed heir or monster taken McGonagall up on her challenge? There was a tense moment of shocked silence after the announcement, then all around the room wild whispering broke out. Professor Sprout took a few moments to gather herself, then she herded them all outside, locking the Greenhouse with far more care than usual before she took them back to the school, never putting away her wand.

In the Entrance Hall they met a class of third-year Slytherin and Ravenclaw being led down by Professor Sinistra. The teachers exchanged house-parts and the Slytherins were led down by the astronomy witch, who was more tense than Riko had ever seen her. Edie and her had been mostly silent with worry and lack of info and hurriedly whispered about a means to communicate about this mess. That was clearly more important than separate hints or theories right now. While the teachers were sorting themselves out, each and every student had seen the big black letters, in the same place of those on Hallowe’en.

“ _Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber for ever_ ” it read.

By the time they reached the lair, which was quickly filling up, Riko’s nerves were close to snapping. Apparently nobody really knew what was going on, which was really just as maddening as this entire Slytherin-heir-monster thing had been the entire bloody year. The only thing they did know, until Professor Snape showed up, was that if there had really been an attack, it hadn’t been on a Slytherin. This helped keep the mood above a certain level, but despite the number of blustery comments, mostly from those of old pureblood families, there was a lot of tension and worry floating round the room. Remembering the last announcement, Riko had sat in a big stuffed chair very close to the steps leading to the antechamber, so when Professor Snape appeared there, she was probably the first to notice him.

He didn’t announce his presence, instead watching them from the entrance while a growing area of silence spread around the room. He looked very tense, and wary and exhausted and angry, though he hid the last three when he stepped in view. But she’d seen them just before he stepped forward under the archway to be seen and it made the dread that coiled in her stomach like a leaden snake grow even heavier.

“Well, gentlefolks,” he addressed them in a voice of icy silk when the entire common room had fallen silent as the grave. “I am sure you have already seen or at least heard of the latest case of vandalism. The situation is a tad more dire, however, than just bad graffiti. It was indeed a student taken with none the wiser how or able to find her. Consequently you are all to stay here in your house until tomorrow morning, when you will all be taken to the train.”

There was a collective intake of breath, not literally, this was Slytherin, but the atmospheric change was palpable even so, the difference to that time in Potions when Professor Snape had found the Filibuster Firework in Gregory’s exploded cauldron exponential as regards sheer intensity. Also scarier by far, but Professor Snape’s non-expression didn’t waver in the slightest as he nodded coolly.

“Yes, Hogwarts will be closed up until such time as the Ministry is able to find the culprit, declare the matter solved, and guarantee the safety of students and staff for the future.”

A stunned silence followed the announcement, and Riko rather doubted it had anything to do with her head of house’s cool, sarcastic tone. He’d already said that if the Ministry got involved and Hogwarts got closed down, it wouldn’t be quick. And no one who knew anything at all was going to contradict the assessment.

“OWLs and NEWTs will be taken at the Ministry, exams for all other students are officially no longer Hogwarts business,” he continued in a clinical monotone that reminded Riko of the distant, dead way one would mention things that’d otherwise tear one to pieces. She felt absurdly cold and had to suppress a shudder, focusing on him as he went on.

“The meals will be delivered here, starting now. That is all,” he nodded and made to leave, but Cueverdas, and of course it would be her, her being their sixth-year bad-cop prefect for a reason, raised her hand with a question, defiantly jutting out her jaw.

“Professor Snape, which student was taken?”

Riko felt her eyebrows raise at the question, because personally she’d been bowled over a bit too much to really think of asking. And the asp held up masterfully under Professor Snape’s flat, black scrutiny, too. Well, she had a family of ‘many intense Spaniards’ as she liked to put it, which gave her some experience with such behaviour. It was no accident that it was often she who handled certain, touchier matters with their head of house when other prefects didn’t trust themselves to do it.

“I am not at liberty to discuss this, unfortunately,” said Professor Snape, still in that flat, clinical, almost dead-sounding sort of voice, and as he left nobody dared utter another word.

A heavy cloud of silence remained in the room, seeping into the ground and atmosphere. Only very slowly, people started the first, whispered conversations. Riko didn’t feel like waiting for any sort of normalcy to return, obviously Hogwarts was all out of whatever usually counted as normalcy here. She rose quickly and thought urgently of Korra, and when she came back from her dorm, it was just in time to see several tables decked out with a buffet of lunch stuffs appear from thin air. This had the side effect of chasing away most of the lingering silence, which was almost as good as the main effect of enabling Riko to claim her usual small table by the window.

She didn’t eat much but that was alright because Riko spent the rest of the day eating her nerves. Mostly her thoughts kept on whirling in useless windhoses, trying to come up with something, anything, she could do. Or at least with some way to take control, to make some sort of sense of this entire fucked up situation. There had to be some aspect of it all that wasn’t completely fucked up? Like.. yes, now nobody could claim it was still Hagrid’s fault! They’d have to let him go. So there! And perhaps.. perhaps whoever had been taken wasn’t even.. wasn’t even such a great loss, for example, if it was (purely theoretically) Fina or one of her goons, Riko wouldn’t really mourn, at all.

She’d still help Vi to try and rescue her, because that was exactly what Vi would do, and Riko wouldn’t even try to fail on purpose, because really, that was just not on. No matter how much of a madhouse and devoid of proper education on the basics of civilisation Hogwarts was, it was supposed to be a school, and students safe here. And about the problem of the school being closed down, well, the petrified people were still going to be cured, she had to assume that, and with their help surely even the Ministry wouldn’t manage to fuck it up? And even if they did, once Amy was back they’d find a way to solve it, the four of them, they would, definitely.

Riko had just managed to settle her nerves a little with this reasoning when Korra landed at her elbow. She’d obviously visited Vi first, and the taken student wasn’t from Hufflepuff. Edie’s answer was right below and Ravenclaw had nobody missing, either. Judging from the timestamps of her friends, the Weasley Twins had taken very long to answer, or maybe thought very long and hard over whether to answer at all. Considering the answer, this wasn’t surprising. The missing student was Ginny Weasley.

Riko had to read it twice to actually believe it. This made absolutely no sense in the context of the whole heir-of-Slytherin-wants-to-kill-all-the-muggleborns story. None at all. The Weasleys were a pretty old pureblood family, even if the were called blood traitors by some. And Riko knew her. She couldn’t just.. she simply couldn’t write off the fierce, funny little red-head as a potential casualty, not even one that might help get Hagrid out of prison, no, this was just... not. Just Not.

Letting out a deliberate breath and taking a controlled, fresh one, Riko ripped another page from her notebook and scribbled a second, separate letter to her friends. She’d just gone back to writing again on the first, some questions to the Weasleys when Ginny had last been seen and such, when Theo’s voice across the table made her jerk violently, and thank all the gods and spirits she was using a pencil.

“Hey there,” he said, giving her dry smile at her reaction. Riko rolled her eyes weakly at him, not caring to reply. She had nothing at hand and she was too focussed elsewhere to come up with something good enough quick enough.

“Hey,” she said, waiting for him to tell her what he wanted.

Instead, he looked at her a few moments, thoughtfully, before speaking rather quietly. “I was going to ask if you’re busy arranging matters so you don’t have to stay with Malfoy, but I can see that’s not it,” he gave a small, dry smirk.

“Right,” said Riko, admittedly rather shortly, that had been a very courteous not-question after all, but damn it, she was busy here, trying to solve this mess!

“It’s not one of your friends though, is it?” he asked, looking off over her shoulder instead of watching for a reaction as a peace-offering for asking in the first place. Damn but that kid was good at being smart and courteous. “I mean, none of them are muggleborn,” he added, obviously trying to put her at ease and Riko wondered.

Both at how harried she must look for him to act so accommodating, and if she should tell him she knew who was taken and that it was not a muggleborn at all. He didn’t seem inclined to go away in a hurry. But for what, really..

“Right,” she said again, less shortly, “just a sec.”

The notes were quickly finished and she looked them over twice. It was going to be near-impossible to get away now without being noticed but they had to do something. She’d send Korra round the other two until they came up with a decent plan. Now that she’d set a goal, Riko wasn’t going to let anything stop her.

“Now, anything you wanted, or d’ya care for some Chess?” she asked, all business and looking straight back at him.

Theo gave little sigh and nod, tolerant and resigned, and Riko summoned her set with an Accio, heedless of the yelps of the people that had to duck out of the way as it came flying. It was restful, oddly enough, allowing her to sort of split her mind. One part was kept busy and distracted with the game and another surfaced only occasionally, when Korra came by again.

The Weasley Twins had no helpful clues. Nothing about when and where exactly Ginny had last been seen (in class) nor about old streets in the forest.

Vi had apparently spent the parts of the nights when she should’ve been sleeping but was too restless to do so in the common room, badgering the hidden entrance to the small circular room. Successfully, too, so now her plan was to watch for a chance to use it in combination with Obscurantis.

Edie was going to use the unofficial entrance to Ravenclaw for a stealthy exit, but her Tinderbolt Mark V was still stuck in the broom shed, so she was going to wait by the first window from the Ravenclaw coat of arms and Korra was to lead Vi to her.

Shortly after dinner, again delivered by loaded tables appearing from thin air, with only a handful hours of daylight left, Riko decided that enough was enough. It was a bad idea to disappear before dinner, the chances of a prefect noting her absence was really big then, but now? People would be busy with their own matters now, and if they weren’t, well, too bad.

_Done with dinner, Korra will find me,_ she wrote on a fresh page of her notebook and sent Korra off.

“Oi, Theo, do me a favour and open that windows? Better leave it open for a few minutes, too many people and not enough air in here..”

Theo wasn’t fooled at all by her light tone of voice as she rose, going by his look, but he nodded.

“Ta,” Riko murmured, giving him a weary, grateful smile. Then she stomped very obviously into her room and dragged Nue out from under her bed, studiously ignoring her roommates’ looks. She took her broom servicing kit, too, just to have _some_ sort of alibi. As soon as she was back in the orridor and unobserved, in a niche she knew very well by now, she obscured herself, her broom, and then the kit, leaving the latter out of the way in a corner and adding the repellent charms. Flying Nue inside the corridor was a bit tricky, but the challenge of it actually eased her mind, letting her relax a little and even have a measure of, well, focus, for lack of better word, because satisfaction certainly wasn’t right. None of which really mattered right now, anyway. Theo was still there, prodding at her privacy pebble, and then kept very still when she passed him on her way into the lake. Not looking up at all, so he had noticed for sure. Yet more to deal with later, great.

As soon as she cleared the surface, Riko headed for the Forbidden Forest, intending to make the most of what light they still had. Supposedly, flying over ground let you pick out lost and overgrown structures, it was how many of the old temples and what not could still be found, but their stubborn lack of success so far was disheartening. Even with the slanted light of the early evening sun, nothing jumped out. After a while Korra appeared, heading straight for her, and after her raven wheeled round in a narrow spiral, Riko could make out her friends, obscured and riding double on Vi’s Nimbus. She waited until Korra had reached her and circled her, too, before waving at them. Then they continued their search, finding yet another small stream but no trace of a street.

The sun was sinking lower and lower, the light was getting weaker and redder by the minute, and Riko decided they needed to try something else because clearly they were wasting time. Any road that had also gone by the lake should’ve come from East, but nowhere on the edge of the forest had they found hints of such a thing. After all, the Forbidden Forest had been bigger in ages past, along the southern wall and up to the lake. Viatrix had said they had met in the forest and any place that could be comfortable for such a massive bear and a, well, probably a giant snake, would have to be extraordinary. Thus it’d be very visible, more than any supposed needle-in-the-haystack road, and if they had met there often, as had been implied, there might be some tracks or, well, it had to be near the road at least, which would increase their chances to find it at last.

That great big mass of rocks and boulders over there, for example, glowing a fiery red in the light of the slowly setting sun. Circling round and looking it over, Riko at last decided to land, stretching mightily afterwards to get rid of the tension from the hours of flying. Even so she was well ahead of the other two and, not inclined to waste further time, started looking around immediately. Mostly, viewed from the one side, it looked very, well, common perhaps, or natural. But if you walked around, you came to a wavy sort of ramp and _that_ led to a sort of shaped terrace, and if any of those old, worn-in tracks or pleasant curves were natural, she’d take a bite out of Nue. Besides, huh, wow, that was even better than she’d hoped.. that were definitely tracks here, by the edge!

Moss had been scraped off the stone in places and some bushels of very course black hair, bristles almost, could be seen, which was odd, and there, oh.. well, it seemed there’d been a struggle. And here, some edged scales, some in pieces, bright, almost neon green, like the youngest of grass or some herbs or poisonous frogs Riko knew. Edie and Vi had caught up by then and Edie found even more traces that Riko might’ve not noticed at all. So, logically, they followed the tracks. Riko had at first hoped to use the scale or better even the broken-off bits of scales for a sort of tracing spell, or at least to get a general direction of where the owner was, but her magic slid off the scales like water over oilcloth. The bristles started to curl in on themselves and sort of burn up, complete with disgusting smell, so that was no good either.

The ordinary tracks worked well enogh, though, and led them a good way into the forest, to the south, and they found more and more tracks of a big snake sliding through. There were also a more, and rather fresh, hints of fighting, such as bark ripped off trees in patches, broken boughs, and deep groves in the ground. The sun had sunk while they were by the rocks and the forest grown increasingly dark around them when they found the spider. It was about as big as a horse. It was also obviously hurt, lying below a big tree with a great many broken branches that must have come down with it when it had been thrown against them. A sticky substance was leaking all around it, smelling at once squicky and spicy, and when they neared it started feebly clicking it’s pincers.

“Ah, hullo,” said Riko, stepping up carefully.

This was a witness, which was great, really, but it was also a damn big spider, eight slightly creepy eyes that she couldn’t read at all, eight very impressive, hairy legs, black coarse bristles and hair covering the broken body.

“Can you understand me? Er, click once if you do and just do whatever if you don’t?”

It clicked once, and then it said, “I will not eat you, little men.”

So, clearly, it was both delirious and wanted to eat them before it died, just fantastic, seriously. Riko nervously wet her lips, looking around. Edie and Vi were covering her. It was alright, just keep a distance.

“Great, ah, we’re not men, err, we’re students, friends of Hagrid,” she said, because if there was one thing above all the other fascinating things Hagrid had taught them on the forest, it was that calling him a friend would get most creatures, if they were smart enough, to back down. This spider could talk so it had to be _some_ sort of smart.

Click, click, click, click, click, said the pincers, and “Yet more friends of Hagrid, what do you want in the Forest? You should not be here,” said the spider.

Riko felt her eyebrows rise at the words. Yet more? But priorities.

“Were you fighting a big snake?” she asked.

There was a lot of clicking and the spider even tried to rise to it’s legs again, most of which seemed to be out of order. Riko stepped back warily, but it fell back with an unpleasant squishy sound.

“Do not name it, do not speak it, it is our mortal enemy, do not name it!” said the spider, urgently and with much clicking, and Riko grew worried, well, more worried, much more, in fact.

“Er, alright then,” she said vaguely, feeling the urgent need to hurry on.

It didn’t seem the spider was going to be a helpful witness, small wonder, it probably knew it was dying and it obviously hated snakes. Well, snakes ate spiders, didn’t they, and other little crawlers, it made sense.

“We’ll just leave you here, then,” Riko continued and they retreated.

Well, they wanted to retreat, but it turned out the spider hadn’t been quite as alone as they had thought. Several more dropped from the trees and some scurried out from behind shrubs or trees. This was bad. This was really bad, because they were surrounded and Riko had no doubt that if they tried to mount up those damn overgrown tarantulas were going to jump them before they could even get on their brooms, much less get far enough up. Especially Edie and Vi. The three of them stood frozen, the entire scene seemingly suspended in time as no party made any move. Riko had rather good night-vision, as good as Edie certainly, though her friend’s eyes weren’t quite as suspicious-looking, but even so, when suddenly a low, rumbling growl echoed around them, she was thrown.

She couldn’t even properly guess the direction it was coming from, and Edie seemed stumped as well, looking first to their right, then to the left. At least there was a lot of angry clicking going on now, so the ominous crowd of spiders around them wasn’t pleased at the development. Which meant it had to be a good thing. Even if the growl came from, well, she couldn’t come up with a bad enough thing, but if the spiders were going to fight it first, they could make a decent getaway. Riko looked at her friends from the corner of her eyes, tightly gripping her own broom and noting the way Vi’s hand clenched around her Nimbus. If they moved first, the spiders might go for them first, they had to keep still and wait for the opportune..

A bright light, no, two bright explosions of light suddenly flashed from their right and their left, a resounding roar crashing over the scene like a tsunami, and the spiders jumped. They didn’t jump at the Untouchables, gods and spirits be thanked for that, and the three of them used their chance, mounting faster than ever before. Cutting a tight curve around her just-rising friends to cover them, Riko didn’t have the best of views, but what she did see was awesome, truly fantastic even.

A bike, a big, black classic motor bike, was roaring round in tight corners, jumping here and there and bashing the spiders every which way with it’s wheels. From the other side, more familiar but no less impressive for it, came an old, somewhat beaten, Ford Anglia, taking wider turns and hitting the spiders with his mud-splattered wings, sidelining them, and bashing them with its doors like a seasoned warrior at work. Then Edie and Vi were gaining height, Edie helping steer while Vi had her wand out, drawing up a shield. And then they raced through the massive, extended, and very sturdy mass of boughs and branches that made up the roof of the forest. Riko stayed behind her friends, but once they were in the clear, she had Nue park, so to speak, right above the commotion they could still hear below them.

Firstly, she had to spit out a few leaves, and there were several small twigs stuck in uncomfortable places in her clothes and hair. Then, and it wasn’t exactly easy while flying, or rather hovering in a circle, but Riko tried to gently pat down some of the Lightning’s tail twigs that had got hit by branches and were now sticking at a bad angles. Vi’s Nimbus didn’t look much better, but still better than Nue, which probably came from having two riders to give it better cover. Even so Edie had twisted in her seat and was trying to apply the same first aid to it’s tail. Below sounded loud honking, and then the growling and sounds of splintering wood moved off, north-east-ward, with increasing speed. Soon they could only track it by the small clouds of frightened birds taking to the air.

Riko sighed. Their track was down there, but it was rather dubitable a plan to go down to where they had just met a full contingent of monstrously big spiders. Tiredly she looked southwards over the forest, wondering where the tracks might lead. In the distance a flock of birds was rising in a small circles. Then another one, a bit further away and to the east. Just like..

Turning her head she could see dispersing clouds of small birds settling back down into the cover of the forest, peace returning in the wake of the chaos of living vehicles and monstrous spiders that had hurdled along below the trees’ cover. With a loud curse Riko urged Nue upwards and bowed down low to make her go faster, faster, southwards, all but skipping treetops with her toes as she chased the rising flocks of birds as they rose in the wake of whatever it was they had been searching all year. Wind was whipping her face and Riko had to squint her eyes as she hurtled along at a pace she would’ve usually considered insane, Vi’s startled yell fading behind her.

It was a good thing the indicated course was a bit of a curve, allowing her to take a shortcut and lowering the chance of hitting one or more of the birds in her hurry. The last remains of twilight were fading when there were no more birds rising, and Riko circled tightly over a patch of forest that seemed no different from any other. Impatience was gnawing at her guts as she alternated between watching Edie and Vi catch up and unsuccessfully trying to see through the thick layer of forest below her. There was a vague sort of.. indentation in the dark, uniform-seeming tree-cover and Riko nudged her Lightning closer, carefully scanning ahead and finding nothing overly worrying.

Her friends arrived, ages later it seemed, to see her trying valiantly to burrow along the branches, down to the ground. They didn’t ask what she or they were doing here or why she’d raced off like that because they were brilliant and fantastic themselves. Instead, Vi called a dry “thanks for waiting up” and Edie yelled a slightly louder “I think subtlety’s kind of overrated here.”

Riko barked out a laugh and suffered good-naturedly for Nue to do a sort of tilting salto because the broom was quite understandably not fond of the idea of flying backwards.

“A’right then,” she yelled back with a fierce grin and swerved so she was directly beside them. “Now, stay right beside that broom, y’hear, it’s important,” she said to Nue, patting the handle delicately. The broom vibrated lightly and Riko appreciated that neither Edie nor Vi took the chance to remark on her lack of sanity or otherwise comment on the Lightning’s peculiarities. Instead they both clapped her shoulder and they shared a grim smile before she concentrated on doing a real, proper, well, proper- _ish_ shield.

Shields, real decent, thought-up shields were as different from what most people usually used in a combat situation as a decent cloak was from a cut-up burlap sack. Both did the trick if you just wanted to cover yourself, but only the cloak would really keep bad weather out. And, well, in this case it wasn’t just against magic, either. Biting her lip, she used both hands to call up threads of power, weaving them as well as she could, knowing full well Uncle Kal would be groaning into his hand in exasperation at all the crude mistakes she made. Riko didn’t give half a flying fuck though, because the sphere of hard energy forming around them would do, no matter how messy or inefficiently.

“Right, let’s gain a bit of altitude and crash right through, faster the better,” she said tensely, holding her hands very still, legs tensing up where they were clinging to Nue.

It worked pretty well, really. They crashed through layers of leaves and twigs and branches, thick branches, and then again branches and twigs and leaves, luckily seeing only a few stronger boughs, who made way well enough. Nue did a neat little curve instead of depositing her into the tree she’d been heading for while Edie and Vie neatly passed it by. There was a light smell of burnt greenery and Riko could see some smouldering on the edges of the twigs where her shield had just eaten through, but it fizzled away quick enough. It was dark down here, really dark, and Riko quickly called up her Demon Eyes to look around. No spiders were visible or forthcoming, which was good. No other threads visible, either. And, yeah, if that was supposed to be a road then Riko didn’t feel bad any more for not having found it.

Narrow it was, and had clearly been constructed with the express purpose of being hard to find from above, from the way it curved up to the little hill it led into. A hill that had a portion cut out for an entrance into a rather high, arched tunnel, the trees growing in such a way as to minimize even the visible difference of their height. Right, well, here they were and here there were more tracks leading from and into the corridor, and damnit, they had things to do. Shaking herself from the lingering disbelief at having found, at long damn last, what they had been searching for so long, Riko dismounted.

Together with Edie and Vi, who seemed to have had similar thoughts, she stepped into the tunnel. It was easily enough place to walk side by side and high enough that a rider on a horse wouldn’t have to worry, at all. It was also completely dark, once they left the entrance behind, but with the spells they had on their eyes for dark-vision, they moved on confidently. Downwards they went, further down, the tunnel made some curves, and then they came to a great, closed stone door. Riko heard herself sigh, the sound echoing back along the tunnel and coming back changed and multiplied. A few called up whisps showed nothing they hadn’t already seen. Two snakes curled into each other, made of a dark, greenish-black stone and worked so masterfully they looked to be almost alive, slightly set into the stone of the door. If it hadn’t been a vertical surface, Riko could’ve imagined they were just sleeping in a shallow natural basin.

“Well, we’re definitely going the right way I’d say,” Vi commented drily.

“Wow, you can even tell they’re supposed to be adders, look, there’s the V, and the scales look even a bit lighter around those markings on their back,” said Edie, and Riko agreed to her wonder. The snakes had obviously been made from one stone, but still a change in colour had been worked into them to show the distinct zig-zags.

“Right, now we just have to get inside,” she said, because yes, this was fantastic, no doubt, and she’d surely come here again, she’d fixed the point of entry in her head with a seal, but first they had something they had to do.

Stepping up to the snakes, she let her hand travel over their smooth scales, probing and testing. They felt warm to the touch. Slytherin had been a Parselmouth, but surely he’d make it so that friends of his could enter too, wouldn’t he? Only, that could be just about anything, there were no hints here, if you had to speak a certain phrase or cast something.. Well, if you assumed the snakes were the guardians of the door, you just had to make them understand you, didn’t you, then hopefully they wouldn’t care about any fall-back phrases or whatever. Nervously, only too aware of just how much they were working against the clock, she took a deep breath and let it out evenly.

For some reason neither she nor Eliria-sensei had been able to find, Riko was not very good with Deceivre, the art to let your target hear whatever you wanted it to. Theoretically you could make people hear a password you didn’t know yourself, or even any odd, inconceivable thing to bring about a certain reaction, just by concentrating on that expected reaction. Practically Riko was pants at it. The best she ever managed was to use it as a sort of translator-spell, making the target hear-slash-understand what she was saying. It was just a bit too odd and alien, the idea to speak without knowing what you were saying, like a gap where something was supposed to be, or perhaps it was the resulting, irrational feeling of actually doing something to her target’s mind. That was something you just didn’t do.

Not even Uncle Darshu who used just about any kind of magic, laughing wildly at any worried voices about spells being Dark or Forbidden or whatever, would ever do such a thing. It was wrong, it never worked right, and it was simply miserable form and style. Riko nervously wet her lips and shook her head lightly to clear it, concentrating on the spell.

“Open up,” she told the two snakes in a confident voice, when she’d formed the spell’s structures in her mind, and pushed power into the result, tying it to the words. She could feel Vi and Edie’s curious looks from her sides, but they stayed quiet for now. Good, they could ask her later, once they got this stupid mess settled.

The snakes twitched a little, then raised their heads and looked at her with something like dubious curiosity. Riko bit her lip and sighed, stressed, trying to envision what snakes would hear as language, recalling Potter’s performance just before Yule. Drawing back her shoulders, she tried again, keeping the memory in her head, and hadn’t Potter sounded just a bit lispy as he yelled at the snake..?

“Come on, open up, we’re in a hurry and we need to see the guardian,” she said pushing more power along the impatience of her words.

This time the snakes looked more thoughtful, tasting the air and trading a look. Then they nodded abruptly, and started to move in a way that had them form a set of oddly flowing, sinuous shapes, glowing ever brighter in a green that soon resembled the scales she had found earlier.

Suddenly a heavy tremor ran along the massive stone door and then past them, into the tunnel behind them, just as the glow increased sharply and, for a short moment, blinded them all. When they could see again, the two heavy stone wings of the door had opened inwards, one snake on each side of the door frame.

Inky blackness bled from beyond the threshold, beckoning them. A heavy, grumbling sound still crawled through the air around them, like an echo of the odd tremor. Stubbornly raising her chin just so, Riko called up a few whisps again and stepped inside the blackness. The ominous sound had faded and it got very quiet, as if the air was heavier here, swallowing the weak sounds of their steps and breathing entirely. And the darkness itself was certainly something else. It wasn’t clingy or anything, but it did cover everything, as if there were actual particles of it flying around, swallowing a good portion of the whisps’ light and blurring the edges of the shadows. It felt oddly nice though, like a friendly blanket almost, letting them hurry forward without worrying about the next corner or bend.

The tunnel was about twice as wide as it had been before the door and they ignored the occasional, smaller off-shots. The air grew damp, and from the traces of water trickling down the walls into hewn grooves this was permanent. Below the lake, then. At one off-shot they found a gigantic snake skin of the same vivid green as the scales in Riko’s pocket. At the time of shedding the snake would have been about two feet thick and Riko couldn’t even properly imagine it’s length. They hurried on after only a short glance, with a weird sense of not urgency, no, it was more like sort of intruding unease, the growing feeling that something was wrong. But that was probably just impatience, reminding them of how pressed for time they were.

When they came to another pair of snakes guarding a two-winged stone door, Riko hurriedly replicated the Deceivre effect from earlier, this time with more confidence from the start. It led into a chamber, a very wide chamber, spanning far on either side of them, the air thick and heavy and oddly _cold_. A tepid, greenish gloom filled the place, decidedly different from both the soft yet heavy darkness of the tunnel and the vivid green of the snakes. If anything, it resembled the sickly, weakened green of decaying greens or the bioluminescence of some poisonous moulds. Very carefully and with mounting dread they edged inside, covering each other, with Riko taking point.

Before they were even inside they saw many thick stone pillars with the already-familiar stone snakes entwining on them, set against the wall and standing in rows, like thick trees building an avenue. Many, maybe even all of them, were bound to be other hidden entrances, Riko thought, but right now they just obscured a lot, giving cover to who-knew-what, as their door had deposited them roughly at the middle of the length of the chamber. It was eerily silent and Riko’s heart pounded painfully in her chest.

In none of the guardian’s chambers had she ever felt so ill-at-ease. What was going on here? The tunnel had been peaceful enough! They advanced carefully, carefully, whisps long since banished, back in the corridor, to not give them away. Then they edged round the cover of another thick column and for some odd reason the rest of Riko’s memories from that night were weirdly fractured.

She had a very clear memory of the view from her first look just past the pillar, when she first saw the body of the incredibly great serpent lying there, in a way that was clearly not right. Her ping showed nothing alive or active.

Riko recalled taking a deep breath of the noxious-tasting air, reeling from the sudden cold of urgency gone, recalled pushing down harshly on the swell of potential deductions, none good but dwarfed by the heavy, watery cold of _no_ (useless, that), of _failed, again_. Useless, too, and shoved it down even further.

The burning in her nose and throat was also in the next clear memory, of touching, slowly and with cold, prickling hands, the brightly green ridge that ran around the serpent’s head. A little like a defensive diadem, it was. She was kneeling right beside it and as she turned the head from it’s side to lie more naturally, she saw that it’s eyes had been savaged, possibly by claws, making it look to weep. There was a hole, from some very sharp blade for sure - it had gone right through one of the scales on it’s face, between the eyes. Only a small rivulet of blood, dried already to a weird, darkish green, had run from it, not enough to even form a puddle. Directly by her right knee was a puddle of thin, black liquid, seeping into the fabric of her trouser, slimy and ice-cold. She was cold. She didn’t even know his name. Ginny was nowhere to be seen, nor any tracks.

She meant to take a deep breath, the inside of her nose still itching, but something caught in her throat and she had to clear it.

There was a flurry of other memories after that, slightly hazy, and she wasn’t quite sure of their right order. Sometimes, much later, Riko wondered with a sort of morbid curiosity what exactly had really happened there and then, thought about asking Vi (because Edie would feel bad and be upset, instead of taking it as it was, idle prodding of where’d-it-break-where’s-the edges - which was just silly, considering how Edie was about her own injuries, all factual and interested - except of course she’d tell you it wasn’t at all the same and, yeah, there was just no point going there..). But whenever she thought of it Vi wasn’t there, and it wouldn’t do any good anyway. Clearly it hadn’t been important, else she’d recall it. Just another case of autopilot, she’d had those before, not even just for those abominable, no-point-in-thinking-on-them nights, and, well, she had been very tired (and stressed, and possibly even affected by strange ambient magic).

She did recall Edie’s arm around her, proving that relevant matters _were_ recorded, her friend a warm steady presence at her side, darkness cradling them like a soft, warm blanket.

There was another memory of looking down at her hands, sitting on Nue, Vi directly behind her, talking quietly, one arm around her and radiating warmth.

She had one very hazy memory of answering in a calm, even voice, but not where or whom, only that she felt very cold at the time, which made sense as her words were about taking a hot shower.

She had another, much more vivid, memory about staring in quiet fascination at the pretty moving patterns of the tiles in the shower. The light was very yellow and smelled like pine needles. She didn’t want to sit down or activate the bathtub because she wouldn’t rise again if she sat down now, but she didn’t want to go out from under the hot water either.

Far less detailed, perhaps because she hadn’t been as still or because it hadn’t had as much time to seep into her head, was the recollection of Tony scolding her about something or other, worry and upset in her tone, dragging her somewhere.

Then Riko was in the Great Hall and it was very noisy. Vi and Edie were on either side of her and it smelled of food, making her oddly queasy. At some point Amy was there, too, was fine again, hugging them all, looking at Riko with worry in her big, brown eyes, reflecting the candle-light in warm, distracting flickers. Then she was gone, but she showed up again, sometime later, saying something about Ginny being alright, and again later, shaking Riko from what must have been a doze, telling her Hagrid was back, which Riko would’ve believed even if she couldn’t see the big man herself, just striding up to his usual place at the table.

Edie had given her the earplugs she’d got from Amy last year, and when Riko closed her eyes everything was alright. Or at least peaceful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> many apologies to who-ever actually reads this, for the long wait ^^;  
> (comments might be a great way to remind me I´m supposed to put up the next chapter, but hey, I do get how stressful commenting can be.. still would love to get some, though ^_-)
> 
> anyway, Deceivre in this definition is from guernica´s Knight Errant Chronicles, just, y´know, to give credit where it´s due ^_^
> 
> and yeah, the pov-carrier is under some significant stress(es) and.. well, deals with it in her own way..


	20. Digging

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The general populace may be happily satisfied swapping rumours and hear-say on what happened, but Riko is most certainly not. Not ever, and certainly not after the year she had..

When Riko woke up nothing was alright. A heavy block of burning, frozen rage had replaced her guts. Her mouth tasted of metal (iron, to be exact, and no, there was a difference to copper, _and_ a difference to blood) that made her recall the dreams that had woken her, which made her feel cold, which made her guts clench and knot even harder. It hurt.

She took a deep breath and fished for her pocket watch, which was where it was supposed to be, under her pillow. It was late afternoon and she was in her bed. Nue was lying beside her, looking dishevelled, bristles damp, so Riko retrieved the broom service kit she’d hidden in the corridor yesterday and took care of it. She gave some absent greeting to some of her roommates when they entered or just passed inside to fetch something but ignored their odd looks and attempts at chatter. Then she looked for her friends. It was Saturday, after all. They were the sources she trusted, after all. And soon Riko knew what everyone knew.

Last night had been the end-of-year feast and Gryffindor had won the house cup, since Potter and Ronald had received two-hundred points each for rescuing Ginny and killing the monster of the heir of Slytherin, which had been a basilisk. Hagrid had been freed by Dumbledore, who had come back to the school last night, spontaneously or because he was Dumbledore, whatever. Lessons would resume for the remainder of the three weeks, but the exams remained cancelled _,_ except for OWLs and NEWTs of course, which would be taken at Hogwarts, not at the Ministry. At this point, Riko coolly whistled for Korra and asked Amy for a parchment and the use of her ink and quill because no matter what, Amy was always properly prepared and Riko didn’t fancy writing her head of house on a ripped out notebook-page.

Then she learned what not everyone knew.

Ginny Weasley had been possessed by Voldemort, who had, fifty years ago, been a student called Tom Marvolo Riddle. At some point he had imbued himself in his diary and controlled the girl through it all year. He had, in Ginny’s body, written the graffiti on the wall at Hallowe’en, and attacked Mrs Norris when the cat caught him.

Tom the bloody half-blood Voldemort Riddle had commanded the basilisk, the basilisk who had been Salazar Slytherin’s companion and guardian of Hogwarts, to attack the students.

It was Ginny who had tried to get rid of the diary by flushing it down the toilet, scared of the gaps in her memory it had caused, and it had been her who had burgled it back from Potter after she’d learned he had it.

Lockhart was apparently really a complete fake. Potter and Ronald had gone to tell him about what they’d found, for some odd reason not going to McGonagall or anyone else with their information. They had found him ready to flee the castle and forced him to come along in their quest. On the way, he had tried to obliviate them, like the people whose stories he had stolen, using Ronald’s wand, which had instead backfired badly. It seemed to have thoroughly scrambled his mind.

The diary that was the actual culprit, or at least the root of it all, had apparently come from Lord Malfoy in a bid to harm the political efforts of Mr Weasley, whose muggle protection act was still in the process of being discussed. It couldn’t be proven, of course, but there seemed to be a house elf witness called Dobby that Potter had somehow freed, using a sock. Whatever, really.

“Riko, are you alright?” Amy asked at that point, with that tentative frown on her face that meant she was concerned although it always looked more like a cross between puzzled and trying-to-hold-her-tongue, to Riko.

Riko eyed her back, levelly, face impassive. Her breathing was even, her pulse normal, she was calmly gathering all the facts. She tilted her head and gave her friend a slightly questioning expression. There was a tense moment of silence, then Amy continued with what Potter had deducted as cause for the petrifications instead of deaths. According to Potter, Mrs Norris had survived because the cat had caught the look of death only through the reflection of the water. Creevey had been protected by his camera, Finch-Fletchley by Nick who had acted like a veil and, being dead, couldn’t be killed again. Clearwater and Amy had had the small mirror that saved them. Riko still didn’t know how Nick could have been cured as he was unable to drink a potion, being all ghostly, but currently she just didn’t care. And he was apparently alright again, so, no point at all, really.

Unsurprisingly, just like last year, Potter’s brilliant deductions were a tangle of correct and incorrect assumptions. For one, Amy had talked to Ginny, up in the hospital wing, and the basilisk had not in fact been involved against Mrs Norris at all. Voldemort hadn’t yet managed to summon or control the basilisk by that time, he’d simply wanted to kill the cat because it had seen Ginny write on the wall. At the time, however, Ginny had apparently not been sufficiently controlled to let him cast a valid Avada Kedavra through her, and so the cat had only been petrified. Absently, following that native instinct for weak points, long-honed by survivor’s spite, Riko filed the thought of Tom Voldemort’s performance issues to a separate corner in her mind and focused on the rest, determined to solve all of this at last.

About, for example, the attacked students, the question remained, at least to Riko, why they had only been petrified instead of being, well, perhaps strangled to death, or crushed, or eaten whole, or even just nicked by the basilisk’s insanely poisonous teeth, never mind killed by a bloody fucking glare. It seemed odd there had really been no death at all.

Well, Myrtle had apparently been killed by the basilisk’s look, fifty years ago, though form the description that almost seemed an accident. Riddle had found one of the entries to the Slytherin guardian’s ways, in what either had always been or was at least nowadays the girl’s bathroom now known as Myrtle’s. The girl had been hiding in a stall from some bully, heard a boy talk in some weird language, and gone out to give him one-for. Instead she’d seen two yellow eyes, and that had been that.

Still, the lack of dead, nice as it was, seemed odd, considering how deadly a creature a basilisk was, especially such a big and old one. Amy had even brought the book that Potter and Ronald had got from the library. At yesterday’s breakfast Ginny had, despite being controlled, managed to leave them the slip that Amy had held when she’d been attacked.

Which was proof, right there, that fucking with people’s mind was a bad idea and never worked. It was also proof that Ginny was to be respected, because that couldn’t have been easy to do. It must have been the reason, or at least a big part of the reasons, why Voldemort had forced Ginny down into the chamber. He’d told Potter it was to lure the boy who lived down there alone, but, seriously, Riko doubted that. For one, why would Potter go there alone, and besides, how exactly had Riddle expected him to get down there? Yes, Amy had written _basilisk_ and _pipes?_ on the slip, but even with this hint it was a rather long shot, to trust Potter’s wits like that.

There was an even chance that it end with Ginny vanished forever, and with her the diary, which would’ve meant she sacrificed herself to contain it. The idea was chilling, even more so because it wouldn’t ’ve worked. Amy said that Riddle had been stealing Ginny’s energy, draining her soul, and managed to make himself a corporeal form from it. If the youngest Weasley had died like that he’d have been free. Then there’d be two insane assholes running around, playing at calling themselves Voldemort.

Riko looked into the book Amy held out. There wasn’t much in it on basilisks, it was just a general overview on all sorts of magical reptiles after all – one she’d even looked through herself. It had a sinuously moving ink drawing. It was smaller than the basilisk they had found, if you judged from the human figure that had been added for scale. The description was barely more than a caption to the picture.

_Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents._

_This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken’s egg, hatched beneath a toad._

_Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death._

_Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it._

This did not help in answering any of her questions. Then Korra arrived, with an answer from Professor Snape, and Riko excused herself to hunt down her protégée. He’d get to take his exams alone, just like last term, to fulfil the requisite of staying in her year, and she would now got tell him so and make sure he was up to it.

Theo seemed both relieved when she told him the news and a little worried. He was sitting in the library by an open window, reading a thick, dusty tome on runes, and Riko dragged him down, first to dinner and then to the lair and their small table, and proceeded to go through everything Astronomy-related with him. It was tomorrow’s subject, after all. At some point he asked if she was alright, which was a little odd. She gave him the same faintly questioning look she had given Amy and he dropped it. He mentioned he had fallen asleep by the open window last night and not really seen her until some time during the feast, when she’d apparently been napping against Edie’s shoulder.

Riko blinked, digging in her memory. She thought she had a short flash of seeing Theo curled up on the polstered windowsill. She was seeing him from above, so she must’ve been on her broom, which would explain why the memory included cold wet clothes sticking to her.

“Oh, I guess I just was a bit tired, y’know, with all the pointless research,” she said with a shrug.

“Pointless?” Theo asked, in his most quiet, even tone.

“Well, nothing useful came from it,” she said with another shrug.

They went back to Astronomy after that and it was a testament to how well-prepared he was that it was still light outside when she sent him off to get enough sleep. It was just past the time of the library closing, so Riko decided to catch some shut-eye and let Korra wake her when the coast was clear. It was easy enough to doze off, with the sun warming her and the light visible even through her closed eyelids.

When she jerked awake with a strangled gasp it was dark and silent around her. From their even breathing and closed curtains her roommates were sleeping, and Riko took a few breaths until she felt normal enough to shoot Korra a withering glare for not waking her. The crow gave her an unapologetic shrug of her wings and an impassive look. With a disgusted sigh, Riko got up.

The next few days were a little stressful but Riko was well-equipped with potions, she had a handle on herself, and she had a goal. She’d find out how this, any of this, made sense. So far, the more she learned, the less sense it all made, but this could really only mean that she was still missing relevant information. So she would find that information, she would make sense of this entire bloody, fucked up, steaming pile of fubar clusterfuck, and then she’d know what to do. That was after all what you did, wasn’t it. If you were in a situation that was fucked up, that was not right, then you found out what was going on. Then you knew what you could do, and then you could do something right. That was how it worked, she knew that, no matter what else she might or might not know.

With exams cancelled, the teachers had decided to take the week and go through all the things they would have asked if they had got to take the exams. It was boring, but that was alright, and no grades, yeah, thanks. She really had enough to worry about, what with this month’s full moon having it’s bloody damn zenith around fucking fourteen hundred on Friday. Riko resolutely decided to just ignore Friday’s classes entirely, instead staying with Edie at the shack. She didn’t ask Vi, had hardly talked at all with her friends this week, busy as she was with research, but Amy was going to be busy playing Edie anyway.

Daylight was mostly for making sure Theo was prepared and the occasional nap, if the chance arose, or preparing for research by going through the card-registry in the library, so she could grab the books at night. Riko was beyond caring if she was taking out books from the Restricted Section or how. As dusty as they were, nobody’d notice anyway. Night time was for the active parts of fact-finding. Beside the occasional short trip to grab one book or another, Riko’d gone to properly explore the basilisk’s chambers. After all, logic dictated that there be some good sources there, if Salazar Slytherin had his chamber close by his companion, like the other founders.

She went via the entrance in the Forbidden Forest. It felt better, somehow, than stepping into Myrtle’s loo, which was probably stupid but she didn’t care. It was hard to resolutely not look at, no, to not even notice the corpse that rested at the left end of the chamber, at the feet of a massive statue. Riko let her eyes pass very quickly over the direction on the first evening, pinning her attention on the statue. As high the chamber, which had to be at least six yards, it depicted a wizened wizard with an ancient, monkey-like face and a long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of his sweeping robes. Perhaps an ancestor or a teacher, or maybe a later addition, depicting who-ever? If you ignored the different beard he looked a bit like Gin-san. It did the trick of distracting her from what lay at it’s feet and that was the only time she looked there.

Keeping her investigation to the areas where she didn’t have to see the.. where she had a clear view, Riko was oddly proud that her assumption on proimity and clues had been correct. It was also absolutely fascinating to explore the hidden rooms. Each single one of them, the study, the bedroom, the stillroom, and so on, were hidden and accessed differently, and it was painfully brilliant. Many were probably where-ever-else in the castle, what with the very different views from the windows, just mainly accessible from here. Only part of the rooms looked actually into the lake, letting her stare into the dark waves, clearly at different depths from her dorms or common room. Obviously, Salazar hadn’t been a one-trick pony with his ability in parseltongue. It was so grand that if Riko would ever want to settle down to any sort of lair, she thought she’d build it pretty much like that. If she’d wanted to meet Lady Hufflepuff after seeing the slide and the stairs, it was nothing to how much she wanted to meet that crazy bugger. The sheer number of layers and tangents that bastard must’ve had in his head!

Most of the rooms were surprisingly bare, as if he hadn’t spent much time there, except to store a truly amazing number of books, scrolls, and odd artefacts. A few looked emptied, like looted graves she had visited with her parents. There was furniture of course, craftily made, and the few chairs she sat in were very comfortable, but none of it felt very lived-in. Despite feeling like an intruder Riko forced herself to look through everything following a logical progression. She wasn’t sure if, now that Potter had found Myrtle’s entrance, people would come to properly investigate. So far there had been no hints of it, but perhaps they were waiting for the holidays to do it without an audience.

As she kept reading one book in particular, it had been lying open on the desk in the small study off the bedroom, Riko decided on her first thing that should be done. As soon as she got a handle on all this. Because yes, she knew already that history was written primarily by the winner, and she knew more facts now, so much more, about basilisks, about how parseltongue worked, in action as well as transference, about things that had happened a thousand years ago, so much shit of hundreds of years ago, of decades ago, and she wasn’t completely uninformed about what happened nowadays, alright, but even so it all still didn’t make real, _sane_ sense.

It was driving her spare, and the more she read from that book, the more she grew, well, upset was probably the proper word. Mostly it made her want to curl in on herself and scream incoherently, and there was a sort of odd, non-corporeal, well, not pain, more a weight perhaps, somewhere above her sternum or airways, she wasn’t quite sure, but it made breathing hard and her eyes hurt. But her eyes hurt a lot, anyway. The lack of sleep, probably. It wasn’t just that she was too busy to sleep, though she definitely was. No, she just really didn’t want to go to sleep. It was a little embarrassing but Riko wasn’t sleeping well. It wasn’t so bad when she was only dozing in a warm and bright place, but real sleep? No thanks.

After all, when you were only dozing it was easy to just open your eyes a little, and thus not much of a problem when you started seeing that scene of your hand tilting the basilisk’s head. Again and again, and then it got nice little overlays of stupid, pointless, and chillingly painful flashbacks.

Of feeling disappear that which (who, really, but there was exactly no point dwelling on _that_ ) had wrapped around you, warmly, safely, sheltered you and empowered and avenged you all at the same time, whisked away like smoke, leaving you cold and shaking in a fucking thunderstorm on hard, sharp-edged glassy ground. The sudden desolation, the panic.

Of an empty futon before you, seeing and then smelling, tasting the smoke of a pyre that had been started without you, signalling the departure of someone you had trusted to stay. Of the cold wind and the even colder looks from people you had thought at least tolerated you.

Of looking down at your friend, your sister, your other half, and seeing her eyes closed as if in sleep but knowing that she was cold, so, so cold and not breathing and everything was cold and your teeth chattering from the wind and freezing water.

Of knowing you’d been left behind, again, because you had fucked it up, _again_.

It really was embarrassing; she’d never met the guardian of her house, didn’t even know his name, just having seen his corpse shouldn’t bother her so. It really shouldn’t. She’d expected him to be able to fix all this, yes, but who knew if they’d ’ve even got along. He couldn’t ’ve been very impressed by how completely unable she’d been to find even one of his entrances-slash-exits. Cho-K’so-oh, from the sheer logic of numbers and statistics she should’ve probably found at least five of them before even finding the first of the other chambers. But no, instead he was now lying dead..

Riko soon had great practice in breaking that train of thought by finding more facts to find. It made it easier, even if it was a bit tiring. She also got much practice in the art of ignoring everything Potter. Being utterly silent and fading into the background were talents she had acquired years ago and practised enough since then.

She knew she wasn’t being a very good friend at the moment, knew that her increasing silence was worrying the others, but she was doing the best she could. If she’d try talking about all this she’d probably explode, and that just wouldn’t do. They were her friends and none of this was their fault. It made her indescribably grateful that they just let her doze, watching her back, and although they offered to help with whatever she was still investigating, they didn’t push her. Well, the Untouchables did have a rather relevant operation coming up, after all.

It was a good thing that for Herbology on Thursday afternoon Professor Sprout took them outside to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, to show them some interesting lichen and moss. Edie had stubbornly insisted on attending. Never mind that the heavy, scented air in the glasshouses would’ve probably _ended_ their insane Ravenclaw in the state she was in by then. At least she gave up gracefully afterwards. Amy covered for Edie in Astrology that night, missing the lesson as herself. But Gryffindor was still so glad to have her back they wouldn’t bother her if she said she wasn’t feeling up to it. She’d stay Edie for the entire Friday, too, as far as lessons were concerned, even for Defence. It was being taught by the headmaster for the last remaining weeks of the term and that had almost made them reconsider, but only almost.

After all, Professor Flitwick had to know, right, he was her head of house, and so far he hadn’t made any trouble about a fake Edie attending his lessons. So clearly Dumbledore had no ground to stand on, should he even try, which Riko was quite sure wouldn’t. He was back to his usual glowing, twinkly mood, and whenever she noticed him anywhere, Riko had to ignore him lest she start retching or exploding. As was, Vi and her spent the night with Edie, making sure to take good care of her as much as they could. At first sitting with her in the shack, making her as comfortable as possible, and then, from midnight onward, it was only Vi and Riko, working to keep the wild wolf from tearing itself apart. It was harder than usual, probably because of the bad timing of this bloody moon; there were a bunch of stupid astronomical forms going on, and Edie being stubbornly worried about Riko and whatever else wouldn’t help either.

It made the wolf vicious and unresponsive to many of their usual tricks, and unlike them it didn’t seem to tire at all. They’d taken a rucksack of potions and food and drink along, and had shared quite a few more fags than the last few times, by the time Madam Pomfrey showed up. By then Edie had been returned to her own form some ten minutes at most, lying unconscious and looking the worst Riko had ever seen her.

The two of them were just about ready to keel over, help up mostly by the shack as they watched through the boarded-up windows as the mediwitch make off with their friend, Obscurantis still clinging to them like a draining mist. They’d mostly cooperated in efficient, companionable silence, beside the odd comment and suggestion pertinent to the situation at hand, and Riko had been very glad of that. Amy might’ve tried conversation, or offered help or suggestions for what she thought Riko might be doing, but not Vi. Besides, Amy didn’t approve of smoking and thus didn’t have any fags to share. Their sanest-of-sane Gryffindor had looked shocked the first time she saw Riko smoke and then proceeded to inform her of all the ways in which smoking was a hazard to her own and anyone else’s health. Luckily Riko had been able to reassure her friend that those could be treated with magic with little effort, but Amy had remained disapproving. Quietly so, but Riko didn’t see the point in smoking around her friend when it obviously was a bother for her.

Right now, though, she likely would have smoked regardless of Amy being there, so it was just as well she had Vi for company, who wasn’t bothered by it and also had fags to share. Just before they mounted their brooms, to fly back obscured and curl up in the sun to wait for Amy, Vi spoke up.

“Riko,” she said, seriously, evenly, and Riko knew to listen then. “What are you really still missing?”

It made her take a deep breath that whistled uncomfortably past the odd weight by her sternum and the tense metal coils in her guts. It also forced her to take a hard look at her current investigation when she really would’ve wished to get lost in one of the side-tangents. But both the worry and the warning in Vi’s voice was clear as day.

“Not much, few days at most,” Riko heard herself say, well, more croak, but Vi didn’t comment on it, nor on Riko’s closed eyes.

“A’right, you told us some of the stuff from the books, and we had a go at the books we saw you reading, so you won’t have to treat us like ickle clueless kittens when you get to that point,” Vi’s voice had returned to at least a shadow of her dry humour, but Riko knew it was mostly there to put her at ease. She nodded, dizzyingly grateful.

“So get to it, eh, no cheating, or I’ll sit on you until you’re better,” Vi joked, but Riko knew her friend was completely serious.

“Medicinal sitting, huh, you should tell Madam P ’bout that some time,” she answered with a tired ghost of a smile.

Vi returned it in the form of a light punch and her wryest smile of tolerant easing round the eyes, and they headed back to the meeting point by the edge of the lake - obscured and taking a bit of a detour, just in case the Weasley Twins were watching their map. No need to interest anyone overly in the Shrieking Shack’s side of Hogsmeade.

Riko had the afternoon free as Theo was having his last two exams today, so she had a nice, long nap in the sun. Or at least that was the plan, but then she fell into real sleep, and despite the nice surroundings she dreamt again, and after that she didn’t feel like trying again. Neither Amy nor Vi made any mention of her jerking up and being all shaky afterwards, for which Riko was painfully grateful. It was going on dinner anyway, where Amy would be playing Edie again, including the night to tomorrow.

They visited the hospital wing while Amy was still Amy, to see their friend, and Madam Pomfrey let them in, if only shortly. Edie was sleeping and looking horribly ill. Madam P was still busy working on restoring Lockhart’s memory (or mind, or whatever) so she shooed them out after a few minutes, and with a short detour into an empty classroom, to let Amy change to Edie, they went down to the Great Hall. The weather was still being a picture-book perfect example of summer so they grabbed some rolls and assorted bits and retreated outside before anybody might get the idea of asking them about Amy. Riko quickly asked Theo about today’s exam and so had no reason to return to the lair before starting on her investigating, and Vi only shrugged tolerantly when later she drew Amy-as-Edie with her back to the castle.

Riko finished the book that night. It was scary because it only made her feel worse. Also, because for some odd reason she heard Professor Snape’s smooth, expressive voice giving the eloquent, dry accounts of a slow, painful, well, defeat, really. It had started out with dry humour, interest for the school they were building and a peculiar, familiar-seeming fascination and wary respect for the other three. It became pride of their home, and warm affection, deep friendship, different shades of love, as they succeeded against various challenges. The companions were introduced as they were met or found, other teachers came and went, students grew to teachers or rivals, attacks from dementors and other parties were defeated. And through it all, the writer’s dry humour stayed - comfortable and absurdly familar.

Then things began to drift apart, slowly but like continents breaking and moving their separate ways it wouldn’t stop. All of them had travelled often and much, but Salazar even more than the others. There were constantly long spans of time with only the notation of which book held the accounts of that particular journey. And each time he came back, Hogwarts was less the home he had helped build. He was a right proud bastard and had a vicious distaste of what he considered stupid, probably the reason she associated Professor Snape’s voice, but even with the biting words Riko could see he was right more oft than not. Hardly surprising, she thought, he’d already seen it all while still growing up, and knew how different people thought.

Developments he had predicted more as sarcastic jokes came true months or years later. None of it was good, from his view, but Riko thought he had valid points. The more students finished Hogwarts, the more it became a sort of court, really, which hadn’t been the intention, hadn’t been the point or goal at all. Still, as more and more people decided to stay instead of travelling or moving to live in places less accommodating, more and more politics and power-games cropped up. And it wasn’t that Salazar Slytherin of all people disliked those, as such, he was well known in many countries and even more courts, but he felt they had no place at what was supposed to be a school, much less in what he had built as his own home.

But Hogwarts had stopped being only those things quite a while ago, as it’s reputation as a beacon of what witches and wizards could accomplish grew. It had become a centre of power that had nothing to do with the magic of the forest or the lake or the lines of energy that crossed underneath it. Of course that had been a growing annoyance, as did other things that had indeed to do with the muggleborns and their customs. When he described those customs and views Riko had to agree that they were rather, well, disagreeable. If you wanted to be nice. If you didn’t they ranged from barbaric to moronic. There had after all been reasons the Middle Ages had also been called the Dark Ages in Europe, what with all the weird and hostile religious and superstitious trends and the daily, casual brutality of those with power onto those without. The worse you had it here the better off you’d be in heaven? Well, holy duty to be a bastard, then, if you’re a lord, right?

It was like watching a train-wreck, reading through the dry accounts of returning again and again to ever more aggravating changes. He could’ve stopped his ever longer journeys but he was too proud to let those new people and necessities dictate how he wanted to live in his own home, and perhaps he had also expected more of his fellow founders. But either they didn’t notice the troubling developments or they didn’t think much on it, too busy with their daily lives and blinded by the slow progression that let you get used to things so easily.

There was a wry analysis of the political marriage of Gryffindor to some far younger witch who had always got along well with Rowenna. What it might mean for the future. Then an equally controlled, faintly disgusted description of what the building of a chapel, complete with clerical staff, would bring. Nothing good, was his decree and time proved him right (repeatedly, Riko knew, even centuries later). There was a scathing entry about the utter idiocy of a group trying to build an actual governing body and calling it Wizard’s Council, ranting about both the foolish idea of free witches and wizards everywhere needing yet another authority over them and the inherent exclusion of witches and their worth in it’s very name.

No good could come from it, he concluded, if some power-hungry, asses decided to lord it over people so far removed from them, having no clue of the realities of people not living in a secured castle of magic users or the village that had grown close by it. In the descriptions that followed Riko could see only too clearly the way the Ministry was still run. Built on a basis of names and nepotism, instead of right or wrong on any matter, or even smart or stupid, it only mattered who thought what, personally, or what their personal interests favoured, and who they knew and told about what, just a warren of cliques and collusion, so that even money would only help but not really let you into the higher circles, as Vi had mentioned a few times.

There was a reason the Drakes hadn’t gained any real titles or offices and it wasn’t just lack of funds. Heck, despite all their influence the Malfoys were still considered ‘New Money’, and they were from thousand-something! It was just plain mad, all of it, and also, in a tangential way, made Riko wish for similar info on that last civil war they were all so busy ignoring, but, sources, hah, time, yeah, into the bin with that then.

Back on track, there was still mentions of entertaining discussion with his friends and family, for he had both recognized children of women he had stayed with and also adopted others, some as fosterlings, some by blood. There were still projects finished and breakthroughs made, but they were overshadowed by his growing irritation. Irritation at being undermined in breaking the hostile views of students that came from muggle backgrounds, or from better-off families with holdings and titles, irritation at the hypocritical morality of the muggles seeping into the castle, irritation at being harassed to conform to ideas of monogamy and monocausality just to name a few, irritation at seeing young witches and wizards bending to those views, the former starting to cover even their hair, practising demureness instead of training their skills with spells or in the stillroom while the latter became thick, lazy and self-satisfied, not to mention overly proud.

At one point he demoted his proxy upon discovering a scandal in his own house on his return from another journey. Riko only realized a good part in, and if it hadn’t been so chilling she might have started laughing hysterically. It was the tale of Mary Petra, a lowborn girl with only a disgraced and dead muggle mother for family and thus no pull or resources, fresh to the castle. Her attackers had, incidentally, not been muggleborn, not that there’d be any sense in telling Tony. The entire matter had him furious, of course, but also sickened. He’d had to imply to his old friend and fellow founder the use of one of his more secret skills, which seemed to be a reading of minds, to get the man to believe the girl had really been a victim. She’d been about her own or maybe Ginny’s age and the two attackers had been almost finished with their education. It made Riko’s skin crawl, as did his chilled wondering what else might have happened while he was away.

A new proxy, one Anne Scully, was installed, and together they built the wards Tony had told them about, sunk them into the living stone, weaving them into its very heart. A great work, even with the vague description he gave, but afterwards, asked on the effects, he had yet again to contend with Gryffindors lack of understanding, while at the same time having rubbed in that he, Gryffindor, had built wards to protect the dorms from the start. A stair, turning into a slide, to keep the boys from getting to the girls. It was one of the few cases, Slytherin wrote, and from her previous reading Riko could confirm it, that her founder had stayed his tongue, kept quiet instead of pointing out a misconception or at least throwing a barbed comment that would start another argument. He was exhausted, he wrote, and she didn’t think it was only from the casting.

Of course it just meant he ranted about it in his book, about the lack of understanding shown by such a staircase, as if such a thing could only happen to a girl, in her room, then playing out and taking on all the replies he predicted from his friend, having the argument all on his own. It was absurd but not funny in the least, and he had certainly not stayed sober in its course. The decreasing legibility couldn’t hide the bitter gulf that had grown between them, although Riko didn’t kid herself that either side was depicted entirely right in the barrage of words. It was still creepy as fuck to read the arguments, that someone could not grasp the idea of holding still when there was no other recourse visible, or the idea of weighting what you wanted to what you could stand, in view of your options, your situation.

On and on it went, parts of it references she didn’t get at all or could only guess at, and she thought it was telling, very uncomfortably so, that his refusal to hear Gryffindor compare the two, entirely different, ideas of a boy being the target and a man loving another was very close to the end of the entry, before it descended into insults that were entirely new and seriously fascinating, yet she couldn’t appreciate them right then. Riko had been quite far into the journal when it occurred to her that there had been more than simple friendship, if you wanted to called that tangled a mess of layers simple, between Salazar and Gryffindor, whom he called Ric at times but Gryffindor or Godric at others. It was a context thing, ever changing, and she refused utterly to go back to older entries and reread any mentions of sleeping or whatever.

The next entries showed that he stayed a while after that, on principle, from his writings, and resentful of it. There were few positive aspects to be noted, though one was indeed Mary Peters. She had apparently sought him out for an audience and promptly blown his expectations clean out of the water when she mentioned his implication of mind-reading and in the same breath all but dared him to actually do it. Well, she made a point of offering it, clearly scared of it, but still. No wonder he adopted her, because he did, and all the while granting her the keeping of her own, her muggle name. One of the most famous patronages indeed. After a few months of keeping an eye on more or less everything, right down to having the basilisk keep an eye, or rather ear and nose, well, tongue, out for absolutely anything suspicious, he left for another journey and when he returned it was only shortly.

He was proud of the work of his proxy in his absence and what was clearly an early version of the prefect system installed by her. Mary Peters had made the most of his patronage, too, and in a positive sense, and he was glad to see a number of his friends again, most notably of them the oldest three, his fellow founders. For a while, anyway, until he grew tired of yet more changes in his Hogwarts that he could only note with exasperation or maybe plot against. He didn’t, though, was just tired of it. Instead he left, for a last time. At least Riko was sure that was no accident. He hadn’t just gotten lost travelling, he’d set out with the goal of finding a home again, because Hogwarts had stopped being one.

The last entry, open when she’d first found the book, had been left as a goodbye to the other founders, she thought, most of all Gryffindor. Not that it addressed the reader, as such, or in any way at all, but it was clearly meant as both an apology and a reassurance, not just a farewell.

With her cavalier attitude towards burgling and scouting Riko wasn’t one overly concerned with the privacy of others, of target or collaterals to be exact, but just sitting here and reading this journal, despite it all being so far in the past, felt like an intrusion, like overstepping. It was just too clear he’d never stopped loving any of them, never managed or even wanted to cut especially those three out of his heart. They had different shapes of understanding and context, different flavour of love, all of them, and over the course of his summarized tales there had been enough mention of sleeping with any number of people, but none of them felt as pained and careful as the matter-of-fact words on this one fellow founder. Especially in that last entry.

 _I will leave tomorrow,_ it read _, we had another conversation that turned neatly into a row, despite Amelia being nowhere near. I tried again to explain_ _at least some of_ _my thoughts using more militaristic terms, hoping to let him see the similarities by calling it a war of cultures, but to no avail. We have both lost patience to try and see the other’s view some time past._

_I am exhausted and cannot get any rest here, and it was in the middle of that silly little spat that I understood. One person cannot stand against time, and trying will only result in endless strife. I will not stand for such, certainly not here, no matter how much some may want me to. Whoever cares to reap the benefits of what Hogwarts now is should also deal with the costs, themselves._

_Let them use their own wits for flyting for I will not be cast some opportunistic fornicator’s Loki in their version of Lokasenna, nor be called the root of this dear place’s Ragnarøkkr, no matter how much some of its current inhabitant may deserve so. I heard tales of portals, doorways such as those to the Fae’s dominion but different still, and I think they may prove diverting and a worthy goal. There are bound to be places magical and people wise or interesting enough to stay with._

_I pray to all the gods I ever heard of, and wouldn’t Mulciber frown to hear, that I am wrong, yet I know that I am not. Tolerating and inviting those that are in their very core in-tolerant is ever the way to your own doom. But no matter, people preservere and I shall not be around for it anyway. I do trust my three fellows to look after themselves, and teach those as want to learn it, too. I told @ to talk to Gloria, and also the others, should anything arise. He knew immediately, of course. His sense of smell is not as good as Viatrix’ but he is even more sensitive to any changes in atmosphere and mood. He will be fine, I think, the others know how to talk to him even without the Voice, and he is a good friend to them all. Not being able to ever see offspring of his own makes him look with even more fondness and care to the children of the castle._

_I wonder if Godric will even see me off, tomorrow morn? At once I hope for and against it. I would like to wish him fare well but I worry he might catch my intent. He is indescribably thick at most times, but he has moments of shocking insight at the worst of times, too. I shall see._

Riko’s hands were shaking when she had finished and she pressed her tired, burning eyes against her sleeve for a moment, closing them so tightly she saw small dancing lights. When she looked again, the evidence of watery drops was accusing her. It must have been a long time ago though, her eyes were still dry, much too dry, really, and still burning. The ink hadn’t smeared, so it hadn’t been the writer. Someone had read it before her but she refused to even guess who it might have been, and if there’d ever been any chance of her adopting any of the founders as names to curse by, it was now gone forever. You couldn’t swear on actual people.

And combined with all the other things she had read and heard and learned over the course of the year, none of it in her classes and most of it from sources dusty from disuse or hidden in the most remote corners of the Restricted Section, Riko did have a picture, now. It was ugly and it still made no real sense, wasn’t logical at all, just a fucking train wreck, but ye gods, it was a picture indeed. She forced herself to think of specifics, because if she didn’t, well, she didn’t know what else to do, right now.

There were interesting, intellectually interesting things in there, gods and spirits, she only understood a fraction, but also things he had simply mentioned in passing, such as the Bloody Baron, who seemed to have been here even before the castle, and the fact that even now she had no clue as to the name of the dea.. of the basilisk. Well, there was a clue: he was represented by a circle with some sharp and sinuous wriggles to it. It looked equally reminiscent to Vi’s different ligatures, Arabic and personal, but Riko had no information on how one might speak it,or even what it might mean, beyond the obvious _that’s the basilisk_ -context. It wasn’t magical as such, either. Was it perhaps something like a true name, only in writing?

Fiddling with the scale in her pocket, Riko decided to go to Viatrix. There was.. there was something she should’ve done days ago, really, and perhaps the Hufflepuff guardian might tell her the name of her newest failure, if she asked blunt enough. Edie had explained it involved a lot of sensing stuff that Riko had no way to sense, but she could try, and the thing was, after her complete fail, she owed it to, well..

Of course it didn’t work out like that, but what had, that entire year? She got down there easy enough, though it was eerily creepy to move her hand between the jaws of the bear’s statue. Riko didn’t feel like using the slide.

“Hummhrmmm, I had wondered when you might come,” Viatrix rumbled, her mountainous form stepping fluidly from behind one of the massive pillars.

The bear had obviously been expecting her. Which was.. bad? Good? Worrying?

Riko knew, somewhere in the back of her head, she should be tense, ready to jump back right fast at the first sign of trouble, of temper, from this giant bear who had asked her to look for her friend, the guardian of Slytherin, who was now lying as a very dead basilisk in the clearly compromised and renamed chamber of secrets as of almost an entire week ago. But she was just a tad too tired, too wired up, right now.

“Ahno, yes, I, uh..” Riko clenched her hand around the scales in her pocket and set her shoulders. Time to face the music.

“You already know, don’t you?” she asked, feeling so, so defeated.

Viatrix nodded, a surprisingly silent “He lies dead,” rolling from her.

The bear didn’t move or say anything else but was watching her. Riko felt increasingly ill-at-ease, well, even more than before, after reading the..

“I am sorry,” she said, bowing low to the bear, to act instead of letting her mind fall into that poisonous cauldron of circles.

The bear came closer. Viatrix. Viatrix was closer now, looking closely at her, and Riko could feel her warm breath tousle her hair. It didn’t make any change in her amount jittery. Was that good or bad?

“Why are you sorry, little Riko?” thrummed Viatrix.

Riko closer her eyes; she was so weary. And cold, where the warm breath wasn’t moving over her. “You told us to find him, that you worried for him, that he was your friend, and now he’s dead and everyone.. well anyway, he’s dead. I apologize, because we were too slow, and if I’d just found one of those exits, just _one_ , then..”

“It was not your failing, child,” rumbled warmly, heavily from the massive snout in front of her, and it broke something in her. Because it had to be, it _had_ to, otherwise it’d mean there was nothing they could’ve done, that they had never had a chance, and that was just no, simply _no_.

“There were many failings here,” the rumbling continued, heedless of her inner chaos, “many failings of many, including my own,” a heavy sigh gusted over Riko, piercing something in her guts and clogging her lungs like glue.

“I could, hrmm, I should’ve looked for him, but I slept and underestimated and mistook, and only after I felt the quake did I venture into the woods. To our old meeting place. Had I gone earlier..” there was another heavy sigh and something in Riko’s gut was like a limb that had fallen asleep and was waking up now, pins and needles, while the heavy rumble of Viatrix kept rolling over her, keeping her tethered and warm.

“There was a lichen there, that he liked. It tasted of spiderstones and helped him be clearer in the face the snakesung voice. It was all eaten away. Hrrmmm. He was never as good as me at finding it, for it has a very weak smell. Mmhrmm. There are spiders now, bigger than I can ever recall here, who did not suffer his presence in the woods gladly.”

Riko shivered at the words, at the blunt way they were said, stating as simple fact matters that might’ve driven Riko mad, had she been in her shoes, or rather paws. But of course they were still fact. It eased something, Viatrix’ straight-up resolve and strength, and Riko shivered again. If she hadn’t been in similar situations before, twice at the very least, of tilting views and facts, and redefining herself around them, Riko might’ve stumbled or fallen or curled up and cried and screamed. But she had been there.

“My friend is dead,” said Viatrix, and Riko felt for her, felt her heart break for her, but also really understood what else the great bear, guardian of the school and all who called it home, was saying just then. “I am not. I deal with those who are not dead either. Keep that in mind, hmm, little Riko.”

She nodded, there was really nothing else to do, and as she let go a breath and took in a deep, warm lungful, Riko felt lighter, somehow, and warmer. She did ask for the name then, and understood when Viatrix refused. The Hufflepuff guardian didn’t decline telling her of her friend, the companion of Salazar Slytherin, and his exploits, and Riko was honored to hear, and to understand this, too.

There was a multitude of very small windows in the eastern wall of the room, Riko watched them become visible one after the other as shafts of light filtered in while she listened to Viatrix’ tales. Stories of how he had helped her greatly against the earthbound soldiers and creatures during various attack against the castle. Of how hostile magics had always slipped off his skin and he had liked to play shield and deadly guard for her, of how she had returned the favour against such creatures as Dementors and Wraiths against whom she had a thicker skin. Of how he had said he was always different with different creatures, and certainly enjoyed it, but when they were together he just was. Of how he had told her of the things that went on everywhere, hearing so much of the humans in the castle, how he enjoyed Gloria’s company for they were both not natural but other and had much to talk, how he enjoyed playing at layers and words with Rikash, throwing kennings like the Roc usually threw wind and lightning, and how he had always liked to simply be with her, bringing all he had seen and heard to see what she might make of it.

At some point Viatrix sent her off for breakfast and even explained why she herself would simply go back to her place of rest. She was a little short then, obviously not interested in explaining such common things as her own living arrangements to a little student, and reminded her that students shouldn’t be down there. Riko left, then, with one more reminder to focus, hmm, and deal with the living.

It really was time for breakfast by then, and unlike the last few days Riko actually felt like eating, and then sleeping. But first she had another thing to do, focus on the living indeed. There might still be a lot of shit and nonsensical bullshit weighting down this entire situation (oh yes, there was, she could feel it wriggling around behind a dam in the back of her head), but there was at least one thing she knew she could do now and so she would do it. Simple as that.

Nervously wetting her lips, Riko walked straight up to the Gryffindor table. It was fair enough, she could’ve done this days ago, anywhere, but now she owed it to Ginny to not dither. Besides, the girl had been through some really bad shit, sitting at her own house table in the Great Hall might make her less likely to completely stress out when confronted with a crazy Slytherin on a mission.

“Ginny Weasley,” nodded Riko when she had reached her.

Luckily the girl, small as she was, stood out enough in the small crowd of early Saturday morning Gryffs, her striking red hair making it easy to find her. She was sitting with her back to the wall, which made it easier for Riko to approach her in a polite manner that wouldn’t require Ginny to turn in her seat. Very good. Less good was that she was staring at Riko rather blankly, warily, and not saying a single word. Well. At least she was looking at her, right, and Riko was probably not looking too well, so yeah, up and at it!

Riko raked a hand through her hair, tongue turning lead in her suddenly dry mouth. What had she told Ginny that time, what if they don’t want your apology? Yes, that was really at the root of it, wasn’t it? Then her spine straightened of it’s own accord and she drew her shoulders back. If Ginny didn’t want the apology she’d say so. If she was to be shot down, Riko would be shot down spectacularly, not by herself before even starting. She made a formal bow and looked at the girl, ignoring everything else around her.

“I just wanted to apologize for you being in that situation, and for not being any kind of helpful,” Riko gestured weakly, aware she was probably saying too much already and finished hastily, “Anyway, just, I’m very sorry that happened to you, and I hope you’ll be alright.”

She could almost feel the silence around her thicken and expand, Riko didn’t even want to know how many people were staring like bloody frogs right now and why was she so damn close to the head table? Argh! And Ginny was simply looking at her, tilting her head a little in confusion or deliberation or both, Riko wasn’t sure.

“Well,” said Ginny after a few moments, biting her lips, and Riko bit the inside of her cheek to stay still and take it straight.

“I don’t – Hermione said – that is..” Ginny drew her brows together and continued with slight shake of her head, "It wasn’t you and you tried to help so I’m not sure why you’re apologizing.. but, er, thanks. I’ll be fine.”

And she looked it too and Riko was so damn relieved she could only nod mutely, giving the girl a little smile. Hah, and there was a small spark of a grin on the freckled face and Riko realized Ginny recalled just then what they’d talked about in regards to apologizing to instead of for, and yeah, that was alright, then..

“Oi, what the.. what is that damn Slytherin doing there?” yelled the rather unmistakable voice of Ronald from somewhere behind her, and a sharp crack ran through the dam in the back of her head. Her eyes, still too damn dry and so tired, twitched and Riko really could do without any of that so she turned to leave.

“Ginny!” yelled Ronald, having with Potter right beside him galloped up to the table like a horde of cattle, both looking worried and with their usual sort of aggressive judgement on their faces.

The, well, background noise of Ronald pestering his sister, are you alright, really, what’s going on and what-not, well, that was annoying enough, especially with Ginny quite obviously doing alright _now_ , and he was her brother _and_ in her house and hadn’t noticed _shit_ when she _hadn’t_ been alright, so maybe he should just _shut up_. What really broke it at the time, however, was Potter. The heroic Saint Potter, saviour of the entire fucking idiotic Wizarding Word of Great Britain, newly minted saviour of poor helpless Ginny Weasley and the direly plagued school of Hogwarts. And probably of all the petrified people and Hagrid and Dumbledore and that house elf, too, somehow.

“What did you want with Ginny?” he asked coldly, stepping into Riko’s path, and something inside her snapped.

As if a great big pile, stacked with flammable stuff and drenched in gas, had suddenly got it’s spark, and in that first fraction of a moment Riko would’ve loved nothing better than to cheerfully gut that bag of bloody idiocy _right_ _there_. And then rip off his empty head and squish it under her foot. He noticed it too, or at least he noticed _some_ thing of the bright flare of killing intent shooting up in her her mind, and by some rare, sane instinct he actually stepped back. It probably saved his life, and thus conclusively hers and who knows how many others, and if that made her want to retch and scream incoherently in rage, well, it was still true. Because it wasn’t actually, she realized, _all_ his fault. He was just a poor, idiotic boy who wanted to help and had no clue of anything, and even that wasn’t only _his_ fault.

Well, admittedly, it wasn’t only he who stopped her from going utterly spare and homicidal just then, it was also her instinctive slipping into quicktime as he moved back, sucking her into actually starting to think. And yes, he could at least _try_ to get some clues, ask some questions, maybe, crack open a book every fortnight, and his assumption that Ginny was incapable of looking after herself, here in the Great Hall, on her own damn house table, just smacked of fucked up. But still, he wasn’t the one who had twisted history and society and in good parts the entire fucking _reality_ _surrounding them_ to this fucked up farce, he was just as stuck here as she.

Riko took a deep, controlled breath and stepped past him, moving purely on autopilot until she reached the stairs to the dungeon, where natural flight instinct set in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> firstly, the name of the basilisk is quite obviously not @, this is merely a place-holder for what is described. And no, there is no actual image of it, either, and I am actually also not clear on what his name was.. I kinda like that it´s up to the reader and what they see in their mind.. and if anyone ever feels like realizing their take on it I sure would love to see it =)  
> and secondly, yeah, Riko is sort of in shell shock, or ptsd, or what she´d tell you is her "managing mode", closely related to "mission mode", so, yes, her subjective view and thus the reader´s lense may just be slightly different to usual..


	21. Way Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Never mind her year so far, Riko has a very bad morning - and true to form (and the entire already-mentioned year) things don’t seem to be looking up afterwards either..

Racing down through the bowels of the castle, Riko heard nothing but the blood pounding in her ears, her entire mind a bright flare of rage but lacking a target because all the damn idiots who had been involved in the crime against sanity that was the entirety of _now_ were already dead, there were a thousand years of bullshit burning in her mind and the responsible parties were all dead and gone and..

No.

No they weren’t all gone, were they..

Rikash had said the castle was alive, hadn’t he, and wouldn’t allow a, what had he said? Such a threat to stay? Well, it seemed perfectly damned fine with some bloody scumbag controlling one of it’s guardians, not just once but _twice_ now, not to mention it seemed to have tolerated all the utterly insane bullshit and even attempts at overthrows and such in the meantime just bloody fine and..

Vi would later roll her eyes and Amy and Edie would shake their heads disbelievingly, but in that moment Riko knew exactly where to justly direct her anger and logically punched the wall beside her with everything she had. Not just once, no, and as her fist trailed a glow of excess energy, Riko might’ve seemed a little incoherent. But really, she was just very verbosely cursing the castle in every language and dialect available to her and fitting the occasion as she attempted to pulverize it’s balls. She was in the dungeons after all, it was logical.

But then, out of no-where, a sharp, controlled voice cut through her wild cursing.

“Miss Slyver,” Professor Snape said, making her freeze.

“What,” he continued in a measured, icy drawl, “is going on here?”

At any normal time the tone of his voice might’ve made her flinch. After all, unlike last time she heard those exact words, now his entire ire was directed at her (there was nobody else around after all), and that was a rather frightful thought.

Or rather it would’ve been, if she hadn’t heard his voice in her head the last handful nights, while reading that damn journal; if she wasn’t still burning mad enough to really want to torch down the entire fucking castle.

Thus, instead of a flinch, Professor Snape received a decidedly feral grin and a disturbingly cheerful, perhaps a trifle unhinged, nod.

“Professor Snape,” Riko greeted, her grin growing even more toothy. “I was simply letting off some steam. Bit of a temper right now..”

She didn’t cross her arms, because, by all the blasted spirits and gods _ever_ , she was not defensive, no, anything but. Instead, Riko tapered her grin to a sharp smirk, usually reserved for much more bloodshed-prone situations, and lightly dusted some theoretical dust from her right sleeve.

He was thrown a bit by that, she could see, and it made her raise an eyebrow with a cutting look, if only she could shoot lasers from her eyes, _cho’so_. 

However, he was Professor Snape, so he was of course not going to take that lying down. His answering glare probably could’ve sliced stone.

“I rather noticed, Miss Slyver,” he drawled sardonically, “and though it is to your credit you didn’t attack another student, even Potter, this here,” he let his eyes stray behind her, where she had actually managed to make a little crater of cracked stone and fissures in the wall, cool consideration in the quirk of an eyebrow, “does raise the question what is wrong.”

Riko very nearly choked on a snarl that tried to escape without her say-so as the slight relief of the last moments was washed away by a tidal wave of burning fury. She took a deep breath, because, yeah, really, _seriously_ , if he asked for it then he asked for it. It took a second breath to get over the thundering in her ears and drag up a suitably cutting smile - or at least a teeth-baring grimace.

“Well, that is an interesting question, really! I’m actually not completely sure,” she started with heavy sarcasm dripping from every carefully spit-out syllable. “Perhaps it’s the bloody incorrect and unjust vilification of my entire house and it’s founder. Or perhaps it’s some bastard nutcase using the guardian of Hogwarts and it’s secrets, the companion of his own supposed ancestor, as nothing but a blunt instrument of terror. Perhaps that it was actually allowed to happen _twice_ , because apparently nobody’s learned a single damn thing in the last five blasted decades!”

Her right hand didn’t want to form a proper fist for some reason but as she hissed in a breath, her arms stiff down her sides, Riko didn’t really care. Her eyes were narrowed to slits and she felt like a spring tightened just a hair away from the breaking point.

“Perhaps it’s that I had friends petrified and unjustly taken to Azkaban, or perhaps that the greatly praised solution to all of this is a complete idiot. That fucker’s the only damn person in the castle who could’ve actually solved this with his fucking Parseltongue but nooo, he just runs off and stabs his problems with the pointy end of whatever’s handy!”

The rage about that was pressing against her eyeballs from the inside but Riko had already admitted to herself that Potter was just a symptom so she didn’t get hung up there again. Not going down that road again, no thanks, because the real problem was that it wasn’t any single person that was at fault and could be made to disappear.

“So yeah, what’s wrong here, huh? What’s NOT! You just asked the first real question about this entire shit and you’re asking _me_?! Was there really not _one_ point where _anyone_ might’ve asked some _questions_? Tried to find out what’s really _going on_?”

Riko was gesturing wildly by now and she didn’t give a bloody shit about any sort of manners any more. He’d asked, he had!

“This really is idiot country isn’t it! No, there’s no guardians, and yeah, let’s just change history, and crests, and whatever we like, so long as it’s getting more moronic! Ooh, yeah, least the Ministry’s there to manage stuff, yeah, to clear the school and protect us from all trouble and monsters and muggles..Hah! Bullshit!” Her throat hurt from yelling, so she took breath and spoke very clearly, though she was distractedly aware of emotion thrumming along her words. “This,” she gestured at everything, “is one giant dungheap of human fail, and it makes me hate every single moronic human ever, and I fucking I hate that, too, I can’t fucking stand it!”

She crossed her arms then because she hadn’t meant to get loud again. Now her throat hurt even more. She looked grimly at the wall beside Professor Snape, to not see his face, clenching her jaw, counting deep breaths to not explode all over again.

“Hmmm,” his voice snaked along the length of corridor between them, like threads of ice-cold silk. “Though you might perhaps tone it down somewhat, simply hating a lot of idiots is not usually considered a problem..”

Riko could loudly hear the ‘how interesting’ unsaid in his words, or perhaps it was ‘how peculiar’, and when she looked, because she had to, now, he was looking at her like she was an odd ingredient, or maybe an unexpected colouring in a potion. Gods and shades and bloody spirits, she was so _tired_ , and no wonder..

“Really,” Riko answered drily, not just sceptic, no, incredulous, because he had to be kidding her, right?

“You’re kidding me, right? Perhaps you’re the exception, but personally I find hate exhausting. It eats up all your energy, it kills absolutely every sort of fun, and if you don’t have a solid, removable target you get stuck like a crab grown in a bottle.”

She watched him warily and, oh, yeah, great, now he was looking at her as if she’d either grown a second head or should be prepared for vivisection.

“Really,” he said in much the same way she just had and Riko narrowed her eyes at his mockery. “You seem to have plenty of hatred for the current state, which at least has all students and faculty alive and well, if I’m not completely mistaken.”

Riko scoffed and very nearly rolled her eyes at that, because really, was that going to be his point? Beggars can’t be choosers and she better be glad it hadn’t been worse?

“It’s really more that I have a healthy and perfectly rational measure of anger for the people responsible, and that is a rather obvious _dead_ end,” she very rationally pointed out the obvious, just a little bitter. Enough-to-poison-the-lake little.

“Those idiots are centuries dead,” she very patiently explained when he only looked at her with utterly flat, black eyes, “And no, I will not simply give our resident _saviour_ a nice pat on the head. It’ll only reinforce his bad training and I dare say if we were to stab dead every person ever tricked or controlled by Tom bloody Voldemort Riddle we’d be down more than just one rather tolerable Gryffindor first-year and one guardian of this _fine_ _school_.”

There was a moment of ringing silence and Riko realized her acid words could be interpreted any number of ways when she had really just been stating facts. There was a number of people in Slytherin who had family that had been involved and walked free later, not just Draco. Heck, she’d heard often enough that Snape had been, too. But he chose to ignore it, thankfully, perhaps aware that she had really just put her foot in her mouth. Instead he started on _her_ again, and part of Riko had to hand it to him, really, for getting her from bloodcurlingly mad to talking more or less calmly.

“A common problem of students in my house,” he stated diagnostically, “is they are often not used to being in situations that are obviously out of their control and in which they don’t know what is expected of them.”

Riko stared, thrown for a moment. Trains crashed against each other in her mind and she couldn’t help it, she laughed. It was so absolutely absurd, seriously, because yes, she could sort of see where he was coming from - and the fact that he was completely wrong with what he meant didn’t change that he was completely right with what he’d said. Because as fucked up and beyond her control as the last two big shifts had been, she’d known what to do, then. It was a weak laugh, hoarse and cracked, showed her again just how bloody exhausted she was, and as she took a heavy breath, Riko leaned to the side, against the wall.

“Yeah,” she grinned, or at least attempted to, “I can see how that must be tiresome. I’ll just go and figure my shit out, then.”

Because slinking off to take a nap, by the lake if possible, seemed the best thing to do right now. The burning need to destroy was gone for now, and if she was lucky and had any say in it she’d come up with a good plan before it flared up again.

But no, of course not.

Instead of appreciating his own brilliant work, Professor Snape now frowned at her, all but skewering her with his look. “When exactly,” he said, very evenly, “did you last sleep, Miss Slyver.”

Seriously. By all the _f_ _e_ _ckin’_ gods and _bloody_ spirits and _star-shitting_ -shades, _that_ again? Well, _this_ time, in view of, well, _everything_ , she wasn’t going to apologize!

“Yesterday,” Riko said, grimly, flatly, looking him straight in his grumpy face. Then she took a breath, drawing back her shoulders, because if they were going to do this, she’d give’im. “Afternoon,” she added brightly, “See, first I couldn’t sleep well, and then I was a little busy.”

“Busy,” he echoed, dangerously quiet. “Miss Slyver you do realize that as a student you are required to attend lessons. The headmaster was kind enough to take over Lockhart’s few remaining classes, and considering the situation it would be prudent to be present and learn at least some real facts. This is a school, after all.”

Professor Snape really was a brilliant man, remarked some part of her drily, somewhere in the far back of her head. To make her coherent and rational from her earlier state, well, that was impressive. But to completely flip it all with just a few words, that was real mastery.

Her vision was actually tunneling and she wished for nothing more, right now, than to turn the boiling, twisting explosion of fury inside her into one of those awesome spews of lightning, like Gojira-san. Just to let it out. But she only knew that move for fire, and with her right hand not working she could forget that one, too. Her left eye was twitching.

“Really now?” Riko said and she wasn’t even sure what tone she was using, couldn’t hear it over the thundering sound of blood in her ears. “Really? This here is supposed to be a school? I’m supposed to actually learn real facts here? I was, incidentally, in the headmaster’s lesson. On Monday. And considering that I had an entire year of Lockhart before that, I think it should mean something when I say that _I was not impressed_.”

Actually and incidentally Riko couldn’t even recall anything of the lesson, she had probably been asleep, but that was really beside the point. And there he was, looking all indignant and that was really all it took.

“How dare you,” Riko exploded, “How the fuck dare you tell me this is supposed to be a school, where students are supposed to actually learn actual facts when this entire year I’ve been forced to sneak about in the craziest ways to learn anything at all. Mind, shit is restricted enough for pretty much any subject but hey, yeah, I get it now, why Binns is still _teaching_ History, why pretty much every single book that had any kind of real info was hidden under dust or behind other books or all of that and in the Restricted Section to boot, oh, yesss, see, _I_ was in the _Restricted_ Section!”

Riko enunciated that last part very clearly, as if talking to a simpleton, and shot her head of house a vicious sneer.

“Hey, why don’t you, huh, why don’t you take a few points, hm? Oh yeah, riiiiiight, end of year three weeks too early again, huh? Or, hey, give me detention at least, go ahead, just so I can do a fucking veto and make a proper complaint about your policies of restricting knowledge! Go ahead, I’m free for the rest of the _end of the year_!”

But that goading didn’t do shit for her state of mind, her entire skin felt burning hot from the rage, as if threatening to set her alight.

“And don’t you dare feed me any more bullshit! The ministry can’t say shit about inner school policies, they’ve tried that often enough, but at least that little bit always stayed. Precious little it’s _worth_ , with you all here collaborating with those fucking parasites, propagating that idiotic, absurd, insulting monocausal _bullshit_ about it’s _purpose_ and history, how _dare_ you tell me to _learn_!”

There were small points of light floating in her vision now and she had some trouble breathing right, but that wouldn’t stop her, the more of the frothing acid she spit out the more the big blazing cauldron inside her boiled up, like giving a fire more air to let it grow brighter, which would maybe explain the little motes of light she was seeing.

“And what a fucking _scam_ , their fucking statue of secrecy! Hah! To protect the magic users, yeah right! Protecting their own bloody comfort against the horrible dangers of enlightenment! Must’a scared them shitless, the idea to lose the feckin’ medieval complacency of their subjects, once it was standard for _polite society_! Brilliant shit, setting themselves up _into_ power just to _keep_ their power, and isolating their subjects from potential help! Yeah, from _help_ ’cause as much as you’re taught to just sort of fear those many bothersome muggles, just so you can properly appreciate the great service of the ministry, this shit here? This would never _ever_ fly in any even _vaguely_ civilized country and if you..”

Riko wasn’t sure when exactly she’d started screaming again, or had she even stopped and her throat hurt and her head hurt and breathing was a real problem now because she couldn’t seem to get any air to scream some more and while it hadn’t been a real problem to have her vision tunnel a little or to have a few glowing motes dance at the sides, now everything was becoming fuzzy and colours were bleeding together that shouldn’t and she was just stumbling to the side to lean against the wall again when something..

..something odd happened. She did lean against the wall, that wasn’t odd, no, nor the wall, perfectly normal wall, nice and cool and stable, she was able to breathe, and think, but she had completely forgotten what she’d been about to say. And now that she thought about it her thoughts were odd, too. Numbed and sluggish, like through a clingy mist, just a normal mist but there wasn’t any mist here - but even so she shivered at the sudden cold because, huh, she had been mad right now, hadn’t she?

But it was all gone now and since her vision was fine, if perhaps a little fuzzy, she looked around and there was Professor Snape. With whom she had just been talking. Or screaming at? Professor Snape had his wand out and was watching her carefully.

It was odd, well, odder, and also utterly, viscerally disturbing, to know very clearly and rationally that you couldn’t trust yourself to know what was going on with yourself. This went double for her, because she was literally the only person she trusted to know what was going on with herself and by right she would either be panicking or anything really, but instead Riko was just sort of numb.

Obviously, all hints pointed to it, he had cast something on her to cause this, and Riko shivered violently at the lack of screaming rage or shock or anything at all that should’ve flared up at the realization.

“Did you just,” Riko asked, voice hoarse but calm, because that seemed to be her new state, “..did you just fuck with my head?”

There was a moment of very tense silence and Professor Snape was still watching her very carefully. He held himself very still when he said very neutrally, “Ms Slyver, you were hysterical.”

Riko just looked at him, stuck at calm but starting to feel really sick to the stomach, while still very numb. It was a very unpleasant mix.

“And now I’m not. Did you just fuck with my mind.”

She didn’t even make it a question this time, just watched him back as carefully as he was watching her, and yes, it was nice to actually be able to notice things by being calm instead of screaming at someone she couldn’t even properly see, which had to mean she hadn’t so much screamed at him as been using him as a proxy, which was not exactly good form, especially with him being Professor Snape. But.

But she would not have anyone fuck with her mind. If he had she would have to find a way to kill him, it was the logical result, really. It was also bad form, because he’d saved her life last year, but she’d have to find something for that, and also something to protect her mind because she could hardly go about killing people if there was a way to prevent that by protecting her mind.

She had the odd feeling her argumentation was going in circles, or at least elliptical, but luckily Professor Snape at last decided to answer.

“It is more a matter of.. ingredients,” he said, explained actually, and part of Riko wondered just how transparent she was to her head of house. “The charm changes the make-up and interaction of certain substances in the body, the bloodstream to be exact, to suppress strong emotions. It is very similar to calming draughts.”

Riko had listened very attentively and as her cueroscope didn’t even give the slightest twitch and the explanation was worded well enough, she very consciously let her shoulders relax. There was also a slight wriggle of interest on this charm, which apparently didn’t count as emotion for that spell, so that was another reassuring thing.

“Now, if I might have a look at your hand,” Professor Snape said then, obviously having picked up on her reaction. He did wait until she had nodded her assent, but, well, he was a very smart man, after all.

*

Although it was oddly pleasant to feel so calm and misty, Riko wasn’t comfortable as she was led up to the hospital wing by Professor Snape. At least he let her trail him and took a rather seldom-used staircase. It gave Riko a chance to gather some of her scrambled wits and aim them directly at her current situation, ignoring any tangents. Thus, once they had arrived and entered Madam Pomfrey’s domain, first thing, Riko excused herself to go to the loo. The main purpose was to stash her fangs in a visible but unused corner of the room and obscure them. Then she drank some water, washed her face and burning dry eyes, none of that very easy what with only hand usable, and then she flushed, just because.

That had not been the best idea because, for whatever reason, the sound of it seemed to flick a switch inside her guts and just like that Riko found herself being violently sick over the loo. At least she didn’t have anything in her stomach right now, so it wasn’t that bad. When she could reliably stand again and had rinsed her mouth with water and all that stuff, Riko very pointedly left the room without flushing again.

Only to receive a very pointed look from her head of house with the eerily even question. “Were you just sick in the bathroom.”

Well, it wasn’t really a question, the way he said it, and Riko only answered with a short “Yeah so,” because otherwise Madam P might make an even bigger issue of it. She was already looking all, well, all impeding, or whatever.

Consequently, the examination started off with numerous generic diagnostic spells, followed by some very tense questions about ingested potions before Madam Pomfrey really started in on the official problem.

“Miss Slyver, what were you doing with you hand, again?” demanded the mediwitch - rhetorical no doubt, she never asked too many questions if you didn’t want her to.

“Eh, tried to punch the castle in the balls,” quipped Riko, because her brain-to-mouth filter was apparently still damaged. She quickly shook her head and gathered some shreds of it. “Didn’t work, turns out it doesn’t have any,” Riko grinned as a distraction and if she was a little too wired to see if it worked, well, too bad. No regrets, though, ’bout that, ever.

“Err, yes. Now, Professor Snape said you mentioned some trouble with sleeping?” Madam Pomfrey’s had a steely edge to it that told Riko to not try and muck about.

Not that she ever would, that’d be the height of stupid, wouldn’t it, falsely answering her practising healer’s questions. And of course she hadn’t mucked about that one with any Dreamless Sleep potions, she wasn’t a complete nutcase and knew about side-effects between certain potions and the problems repeated use could bring, never mind her own reactions to certain ingredients and such..

“Yeah, well, for a bit, s’no big deal, I sleep, I dream, I wake up, I remember I got all sorts of things to do.” Riko shrugged as if to say, well, what can you do, stuff to do, right.

From their disapproving looks neither Professor Snape nor Madam P agreed, but they stayed quiet, which was nice. Actually, now that she got to pay attention, the quiet in here was really nice and restful.

There was a bit more prodding and some consternation about the amount of residual energy in the few broken and half-broken knuckles and fingers in her right hand, and then some charms and potions, including the slightly lavendery taste of some very carefully dosed Dreamless Sleep in a glass of water. Riko wasn’t sure when Professor Snape had faded away, or if he really had left, or was just standing to the side, but she did know that it was all very restful.

*

The next thing Riko registered was a disgusting sort of localized brain freeze. Thoroughly disoriented, she jerked up, the first moment increasing the freeze - then it was gone. She yawned widely and mumbled a vile curse before taking stock.

She had just been sleeping, very well at that, and it was night. Her hand didn’t hurt, in fact nothing did, she was perfectly comfortable in a bed, snuggled up nicely and could’ve slept for, well, perhaps not a week, but certainly at least until next lunch. Could have, because for whatever insane reason there was the Bloody Baron sitting in a chair beside her bed, staring at her with his cold eyes and no decipherable emotion on his gaunt, angular face. Oh, and he had thought it a great idea to poke her in the head. Again.

“Really now, child, guard your tongue,” he said and Riko narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance, sitting up.

Almost, almost really, she asked him what he wanted. But that would only validate him waking her and she really wanted to be as thoroughly and obviously unhelpful as was in any way conceivable.

“Did he then, see him off?” Riko asked, after taking a calming breath, just because.

She wasn’t as searingly mad any more, it was more of a dull, pulsing pressure just below the surface of civility, but still. Still, she really wanted to know if there might perhaps yet turn up a hint as to what she might do to get over all this shit, turn it about, and besides, it was a nice diversion. He look at her thoughtfully, even leaning back and out of reach for any further poking, which was one more bonus.

“He did,” he rasped after a while, and now that Riko knew about him and paid close attention she realized that at least right now he wasn’t talking English at all.

“Mighty short he was, at their fare well, and went back inside instead of watching him turn and fly off as usual.”

Riko eyed the Bloody Baron with some distrust at the further words. Why was he telling her this so readily? And turn into what exactly, the journal never said. And why was he even here? She wasn’t going to ask, though, and as he didn’t make it a trade yet, she’d not decline any further information of an actual witness.

“He regretted it later, just like other things, but such is the way of people,” the Baron whispered hoarsely at her continued silence.

“From when are you?” asked Riko then, after a few moments silence yielded no more information from him. She wasn’t going to be as rude as asking his name, even Slytherin didn’t seem to have known and they had talked often, but she was rather curious about him.

“A decent while before the Romans,” was his less than forthright answer.

She already knew that, and if he knew she had read the journal, which he obviously did, he knew she did. Riko rolled her eyes at him. If he didn’t want to answer he didn’t have to, now did he? The Baron only kept on watching her and made no more comment as they silently stared at each other for a growing length of time. It was damn annoying, that’s what it was, why wake her up for this? But Riko would definitely not ask him, even if she was becoming madly bored by the staring contest. She rolled her eyes again.

“Are you even really a ghost? You’re not, are you, or at least not quite.”

If she was going to be more or less forced to interact with him, Riko was at least going to do it on her own terms. And it was damn unlikely he was, he had been here despite the site being infested with Dementors. Any other ghost would have moved elsewhere. Not that Dementors were as harmful to a ghost as to a real person, but they were unpleasant, still potential dangerous company for all types of spirits as Slytherin had written in his journal after talking to this very.. whatever sort of spirit he was. Riko was convinced Slytherin had known a lot more, from other sources too, he’d made various framing comments, but just like about the founders, the castle, and much of his works, there was nothing concrete or explanatory. Salazar had been utterly paranoid about recording knowledge potentially harmful to those he cared for, which made her feel so much better about her own, rather more chaotic but equally cautious way of notebook-using.

“Not quite,” the Bloody Baron rasped his assent just then, yanking her back to the here and now.

He was still eyeing her sharply and, just like when she’d first seen him, her eyes were drawn to the enormous bloodstain on his robe and up to the giant second grin, as Uncle Gara would call the vicious cut of his throat, from ear to ear. Just as last time he gave her what might’ve been a smile if it wasn’t so very sharp-edged. He really was just a step from..

“You’re a spiritus loci?” Riko asked, but even as the words formed she knew she had to be right. But how could that be? He was definitely something from a person, too, but that vibe just now, just so _exactly_ like the cliffs by the lakeside..

The bitterest smile she had ever seen on any creature cut over his face for a second, leaving Riko feeling colder than the chill radiating from her visitor could explain. He gave a slow, studied nod.

She was quite proud her only reaction was similar to having the breath knocked out of her. Taking a deep lungful of fresh, tingly air and over the din of her racing thoughts Riko asked, “How?”

It was really the most polite thing to do, not to mention the least embarrassing. If he didn’t give his name or even when he, or the part of him that had been human, had died, he surely wasn’t going to answer the why, and those were after all the big two questions to ask. There was quite a while of silence as he kept looking at her, a grim, bitter, gah, ghost of a smile creeping like mist over his sharp features. It gave her by far too much time to think about the circumstances of his existence.

“Quite deliberately,” he whispered roughly, with another of his much-too-sharp not-smiles. “A trade, a simple ritual with hardly any preparation, and it was done, intent being what matters most. I was a bit eager, to my everlasting detriment, but who cannot say that in some way of themselves.”

He’d gestured very lightly with his left, really just raised it up and let it fall down again, but Riko caught both meanings. It had obviously been mostly about his status, which was a bit odd but his own right after all. She wasn’t even sure he had really meant to infer the second part, but she simply couldn’t ignore it. With a small shiver she rubbed her neck. The idea of anyone giving themselves that sort of.. second grin.. of cutting _yourself_ so deep as to be left with only whispers and rasps, forever. She really wanted to ask the why then, what could make a person do that. But he was already spearing her with his cold, staring eyes at the movement, he was certainly expecting it now, and from his look not in a good way.

“How’d you get the title? You got it at their time, right, but it didn’t say..”

Riko gestured weakly, as his eyes tried to stab holes into her. After a moment his face broke into the weirdest smile she had yet seen. It was neither as sharp nor as bitter as before, it was almost predatory, but also oddly shy, or perhaps sad.

“The bloody should be obvious, and what title could be better suited,” he said in his hoarse rasp, no, quoted from the look of it.

This time she refused to shiver, hearing him speak like that, well, of course he’d surely had ample opportunity to learn English. A connection tried to form at the thought but was interrupted by all the others half-formed thoughts around it, on how to continue from this. 

“The griffin boy,” he answered her questioning look after a moment. The easy, almost relaxed way he did it made her feel that much colder again, recalling stories read over the last few nights..

“Why did you?” Riko raised her chin just a little as she asked after all, despite her earlier decision not to. But she would not fall back into that pit of thoughts again, no thank you, rather press forward insanely than tumble backwards there, and after this, no matter the answer, she’d ask what he had wanted to wake her, make it a fair trade.

“I did what I had to, no matter the cost or means,” the Bloody Baron answered with the most ghastly grin she had ever seen on a face. “The reasons are inconsequential now, it was a deal, it was – is honoured by both sides, and, as always the case, didn’t make the slightest difference in the long run.”

The bitterness as he whispered the last words was like swirls of acid rising in the air. Riko held herself very still and continued to look at him. He looked about as upset as Vi did, in the rare instances it ever happened, meaning dead instead of at all, and wondrously the solution for that worked here, too.

“T’was a local conflict, more or less, a broch by a lake threatened by folks that had arrived from elsewhere, swarming the land and changing it where they went,” he sighed and shook his head. “As I said, it doesn’t matter.”

And that was that, Riko knew from experience. Those words, no, ha, matter if they came from Vi, or her, or now this weird, utterly puzzling spirit, they meant the same. It did matter, they said, so much that it might rip you apart if you spoke further, but there was nothing to be done and so even speaking of it would only harm. She wondered if he was aware of it. Of her knowing, even of what he was really saying. She was almost sure he wasn’t, but with how decidedly detached he looked, it really was just guessing.

“And then the dementors came,” she guessed, because she could hardly leave it at that, now, could she, stuck in that worst of all places

Another one of those odd, unreadable split-second smiles and he was back to stabbing at her with his sharp, staring eyes. “More or less,” his whisper rustled harshly in the silence after too long a while and then he looked away from her at last.

“The new inhabitants of the land lived here for quite a while, with different ways of protecting themselves. They had more connections to merchants, yet they soon became the people of this land. There has always been an allure here to those not-spirits, but there were never so many as that time, when it ended first,” the detachment broke only very shortly, for another of those utterly bitter smiles.

In the short pause Riko tried not to think of the wealth of things attached to the word _first_ here. She had no desire to ask about those instances, any of them, not even if she hadn’t already read enough on dementors in the detailed accounts of Slytherin’s findings. Here was very clearly the only witness for many people and she wondered how he was still any sort of sane.

“Well, at least they aren’t going to show up here again, eh, haven’t for a long while. And you probably enjoyed at least some of the entertainment of the new tenants, too,” Riko remarked drily, because no, she wasn’t going to pity such an ancient being, no way - but it couldn’t hurt to move away from that particular aspect. There had to be more interesting stuff that had happened inbetween.

“A naïve view, dear child, of which the reading of the last week should have cured you,” the Bloody Baron rasped even more drily, taking Riko just a little by surprise.

He had, after all, been quite agreeable so far. She hadn’t expected it to last, no, but she seemed to have missed the trigger. The pause grew and as she tried to look at the changed situation with fresh eyes, incorporating what she’d learned so far, the connection she had lost earlier jumped from its hiding place. Riko took a deep breath.

“You knew..” she said, tonelessly, “everything..”

“I have known everything that goes on in the lake’s domain for a very long time now,” the whisper rang through the hospital wing in a way none of the previous ones had.

“People are always the same, do the same cycles, and nothing ever changes that. No matter what one does, you might prolong one thing but it will perish and nothing you may do changes that course - except for the worse, of course,” he rasped it so devoid of any emotion that Riko felt the fine hair on her arms and neck rise.

But this was his normal voice, not that of, of the entire place surrounding her, and while part of Riko was still fiddling with that one and it’s wording and where exactly he might have done that ritual, most of her was taking on the salvo of those words just now. The thin veneer of civility that had settled over today’s volcano like a fine veil now lifted, the threads settling into a very ordered retreat.

“Bullshit,” Riko stated, very politely and evenly, with the last remains of her retreating calm.

“Not at all, dear child,” whispered the Baron, still as unconcerned and convinced as if he were talking about how to correctly make tea. “Bovine excrement has nothing to do with it, this is extensive experience talking. Do you really think I never interacted in any real.. capacity with any of the different people that settled here?”

There was a flash of some horrible emotion on his face before it morphed to such bitter amusement that it clearly had nothing to do with any sort of amusement, not for a long time. Riko would’ve bet he didn’t even know that and she called herself an idiot for thinking him sane earlier.

“I have, my dear, _interacted_ , often, and in the most different situations imaginable - to absolutely no avail,” the grimace on his face was probably supposed to be a sneer as he counted his points, but they were lost on Riko anyway. He seemed to sense it too, for he drew himself up in his seat, gathering his composure like a tattered cloak.

“I have learned, child, in the many years and generations I have witnessed, that the thing to do it simply nothing. I watch, I witness, but I do not act or influence, for that way lies madness,” but as he spit his harsh whispers at her, Riko’s purported house ghost looked more than a little mad.

“As I said already,” Riko started with gritted teeth, her eyes narrowed to slits, “Bullshit! Complete and utter bullshit!

You’re bleedin’ nuts alright, you scuh’yaroh, you knew! The entire year, the frozen _second_ time now, you knew Slytherin’s guardian was controlled by some shitwit and _you_ are the one responsible he is now dead! You piece of pond scum you knew him, I know you did, d’you hide from him, too, to properly do _nothing_? How dare you say.. gah!”

Riko ground her teeth as she took another deep breath and tried to prevent a repeat of the situation after today’s aborted breakfast. Rabid screaming was obviously not the way to win her anything.

“You,” she started again, clenching her jaw to keep her temper under some control at least, “betrayer. You’re not even a traitor, you betrayed your duty as house ghost, your word to Salazar, and even worse you betrayed your friend who now lies dead and hated by all..”

“Your words mean naught to me, little Slyver, for I dare say dear Larz would understand only too well, seeing how he left not just this _home_ of his but this entire world behind. Tell me, did you know that’s why there’s a second shield of truest silver with a griffin, nay, _the_ griffin in it, down there? Even the ladies Raven and Bear decided to take an _extended_ journey, not long after _that_..” he pushed back in a wild rasp and Riko knew she was right, well, of course, but also gaining.

“I don’t care!” she yelled away his attempts at distraction, cutting right on through his smokescreen of excuses. “He left because he had trusted allies to look after his legacy even in just the barest fashion. Which you didn’t! And how dare you name him with any sort of familiarity after what you did? How dare you!”

Riko’s fists were clenched so hard that her nails were digging into her palms as she threw the words in his face, but he didn’t seem to appreciate her extreme self control of not jumping in his face. Instead he looked like someone who discovered a fly in his tea, conveying his distaste even in the harsh, toneless whisper he used.

“Oh very well then, dear, be informed then that Lord Larzarus, for his constant journey’s name, would be enough of a realist to not count on _me_ to serve his legacy. He was no fool, usually, as proven by his leaving.”

Her right eye was twitching now and Riko realized with an odd sort of calm that was very much the result of being not in, but really _the_ centre of the storm, where this, where all of this was heading for. There were of course the countless ways to explode at him, screaming about all the ways in which he was wrong, but he wouldn’t get it anyway, from what he was saying.

Indeed, he seemed utterly collected, almost self-satisfied, and it made her want to find a way to simply erase him from existence altogether. If she wasn’t wrong completely then a Venom should do the trick, and unlike Megadeath or Harroween or Blagozahas she theoretically could cast that one, and it would _so_ be worth the collateral damage and the.. and then Riko saw it. That glint of interest, that little narrowing of his eyes, the disguised sharpness of his look, oh, that chog’oh fucker, that thrice-damned, rotten..

“How. Long.” she said, no, hissed, really, and it was not a question, it was curse, and a warning, and a damntion too.

“Hm, I wonder what you are on about now..” he whispered in such a restrained, off-hand matter that Riko practically heard her blood-pressure explode with the roar in her ears.

“You sick, disgusting nutcase. I won’t, you hear me, and you’ll regret it if you don’t fucking stop,” she bit the words out and they tasted like wire and hurt just as much as real wire would have, at the least.

The Bloody Baron looked at her with such a sharp-edged smirk on his supposedly questioning face that Riko could hear her teeth grind. Thought he’d win either way, did he, not a single bloody care for _any_ thing..

“Oh, you’d like that, eh,” she grinned viciously, sitting up further and throwing the blanket off.

He remained still, continuing to watch her, and though she longed and _yearned_ to blast him right _there_ , it was this which enabled her not to.

“Nice one, not bad,” Riko sneered, channelling Snape in his most Potter moments, no better way, really. “Either you get some entertainment or a way out, eh, y’know what, don’t answer, I don’t care how long, I don’t care how bored you are, or what you did or didn’t do, I don’t care to know a single thing about you. The only thing I care is that you fuck off right now, because if you don’t you _will_ regret it.”

“Really now,” rasped the ghost, shooting her a look of such condescension that it tested her resolve. A lot. Deep breath now.

“Yes, really,” Riko said, calmly, standing up and using the heaviness in her limbs as a distraction from the burning fury in her gut. Taking another even breath, she drew back her shoulders and smiled at him, or showed very nearly _all_ her teeth.

“I will now go to the loo and when I come back you will be gone. Otherwise, you have my most solemn word that I will use all of myself to make a circle and summon and bind you, and I will work it in the most boring and remote closet of the castle, so that the most entertaining sight for the next thousand years or so will be, hmm, a couple of spiders, making out.”

Riko held eye contact as she told him in her most pleasant, matter of fact tone of her plan. She was indescribably pleased to see his stern, angular features furrow in a distant frown as she stepped past him without so much as a look back and only just before she was out of sight did she turn for one last comment. “And since I, unlike you, still have a name, rest assured: I keep to my word.”

The look of indignation that flit over his features at this was like balm on a vicious burn, soothing and numbing and repairing. It made it possible to walk the rest of the way in a loose-limbed, unconcerned fashion despite the disturbing prickling energy that seemed to have suddenly infested the air around her. She did not lean against the door upon entering the loo, would not give him the satisfaction, and the spite settled her. Nothing like performing herself to get back to it being true..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because, yeah, doing nothing when shit is fucked up and you could do something - that is not, ever, "doing nothing" and Riko is not going to let it stand..  
> ..and, yes, spite is probably THE most helpful tool to keep one going and functional, that is an empirically, in fact historically proven fact ;-)


	22. Meeting Lockhart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Never let it be said that Lockhart has no entertainment value, quite beside anything else you might know or think to know about him.. ;-)

When she was finished in the loo, fangs dangling over her shoulder in their sheaths, though still obscured, Riko filled the goblet she had taken from beside her bed and tiredly leaned her head against the wall.

“Peace,” she murmured tiredly into the tense atmosphere around her. “It’d only affect his personal bits. I dare say containing such an areal in a common circle wouldn’t work anyhow and thus preclude it happening. It’d just temporarily overlap whatever binds him to here, narrowing the already existing effect to that of the circle.”

The air seemed to press in on her for a moment, even more than since she’d made her ultimatum known, then a non-existent weight on her existence lifted. Evidently an understanding had been reached. Riko shivered a little, both from exhaustion and cold, and couldn’t stop a tired sigh from escaping. Was it always going to be one step forward and two - or two hundred, really - back? Then she shook her head at the thought.

Useless whining she could do without! She washed her face again and drained the goblet before refilling it. The hospital wing was eerily quiet and it was oddly relieving to simply look around the dark room, tracing all the forms and sounds and feeling so much like just another cat passing through. Distant from all the trouble. Shaking her head at her own maudlin, Riko huffed and resigned herself to prowling a while to settle her nerves. She was exhausted, yes, but also wired up on too many thoughts and not-thoughts to sleep, not to mention Madam Pomfrey hadn’t left the Dreamless Sleep Potion around and Riko didn’t fancy going without it, right now.

At least the Bloody Baron (far too aptly named) was nowhere to be seen, and thank all the stars, shades, spirits, and bloody gods for that. After all, he probably could have stopped her if he’d made it his priority - it would’ve required a lot of work for her to actually research all the necessary parts for such a circle, not to mention the effort of making it happen. It had been a bluff, to an extent; not about her intent of doing it but of how hard it would be. As she’d hoped, he wasn’t interested enough in entertainment or getting out of his existence to push. How nice, at least one thing worked out as intended and she could have some peace and quiet now.

However, peaceful as it was, the hospital wing didn’t offer much in the way of distraction from the chaos in her head. Madam P ran a tight ship, no potions or any other even vaguely interesting items or books were lying about, and there didn’t seem to be any other patients.

It was really too bad Edie wasn’t still here - except of course it wasn’t. Yes, they could’ve relaxed together and Riko was almost sure she’d be able to actually sleep with her friend here. But, well, it meant Edie was well enough to leave. She’d probably been sent off around dinner, and Riko would hardly complain about her friend being well, even if it left her here all alone.

Well, except for Lockhart, right? Madam Pomfrey had still been still working on him when they visited Edie, and the section at the back, where the petrified people had been, was still separated off by those screens. Or otherwise something else interesting might be behind them, so really, where else would Riko go and have a look?

“Ah, Miss Slyver, I had wondered when you’d drop in,” Lockhart’s cheery voice greeted her as soon as she’d stuck her head past the screen. It took a conscious effort to not flinch back at the address but it was just refreshing enough that Riko found her way into mission mode.

“That really was rather entertaining just now,” he added, as if inviting conversation and completely unsurprised by it all.

It was odd, definitely. For one, hadn’t Amy said his mind was scrambled, and Madam Pomfrey had been all professionally-worried and put-upon yesterday. And secondly, he wasn’t really acting like, well, like the official Gilderoy Lockhart, so to speak. He wasn’t even really acting like the more relaxed version of Lockhart she’d seen during her detentions, though it was similar.

“Right,” Riko said carefully, stepping into the screened-off space.

“Please, do have a seat,” Lockhart gestured to a chair.

Riko warily moved to take a seat while trying to determine her current situation and exactly who she was really talking to. Whoever this Lockhart was, he was still fond of talking. He also looked rather well, really, if somewhat out of character, with his hair lacking the usual locks and his jaunty hat missing - only the fine pyjama in the exact shade of bright blue of his eyes was as one might expect.

“I’m afraid I couldn’t help overhearing a few things,” he smirked at her now, “and I really do have to commend you on your successful performance.”

He paused, obviously giving her the opportunity to react, and Riko decided to do the Gryffindor thing. Or, well, at least as much of the Gryffindor thing as she felt warranted. Mostly, she was curious. Amy had been embarrassed about Lockhart’s, well, act for a while, but him being a complete fake had really brought her down. It didn’t help that especially Ronald was constantly going on about it, which was really silly as there didn’t seem to be any substantial proof of it. Else, why would Lockhart still be here, being treated, as opposed to being taken into custody.

“Did you really obliviate the people who actually did the things you wrote about, steal their stories and all that?” Riko asked in a fairly relaxed tone, really just out of curiosity. And, admittedly, also to test the waters.

“Well, I suppose the case could be made,” he answered easily and it was really only because of the cueroscope and how much she was currently paying attention to it, that Riko noticed it’s ever-so-slight, traitorous wriggle. She grinned, tilting her head, thinking over the wording.

“Really,” she said drily. “You just looked for people with great stories and after they told them to you modified the memory of every person that might have remembered or heard of them doing it.”

“Ah, well, y’know how most witnesses are, they hardly remember anything helpful or correctly, no big deal,” he shrugged, feigning modesty and it was that general wording of technically true, framing pieces which further convinced her.

“No, you didn’t,” Riko smiled at him and, giddy with his lack of immediate arguing, she continued with a cheerful, “did you ever obliviate anyone?”

He cleared his throat. “Well, I am aware it is a restricted spell, of course, but there are cases when such regulations have to take a backseat and it is standard procedure for muggles..”

“So you didn’t, I get it,” Riko grinned at him. It was admittedly poking an unknown variable with a stick, but she was rather sure he was no sleeping dragon, so it was simply, err, scientific, right.

“My, aren’t you a jaunty little trickster,” he sighed then and if that wasn’t loaded then she didn’t know what was. It seemed advisable to be quiet, or at the very least careful, just then, only give him a mildly questioning look.

“Ah, careful now, hm? But still curios, I suppose, to find out more. That’s alright, I was growing a little bored,” he shot her a smile that was eerily like Lockhart’s. Well, he _was_ Lockhart, but still. Clearly she needed more info. Almost as if he was reading her thoughts, he awarded her a small smirk.

“Well, I live to entertain,” shot Riko back at that, throwing him the smirk right back, because, well, she could, and she’d certainly not back down from such a challenge.

“Mhm, quite obviously,” he nodded agreeably, cheerfully, and Riko couldn’t deny that this, whatever it was and however odd and bizarre, was definitely entertaining.

“To entertain is to be entertained, after all, at least in a fashion” he smiled easily, if a bit drily, leaning back against his headboard and eyeing her with undisguised interest.

Riko didn’t quite know what to say to that and obviously he wasn’t going to play at answering her questions again, at least not yet, which left her a bit stranded. So, logically, she simply looked back, for a while.

“Did Philly bring you the pyjama?” she asked at length, because she was really getting bored by the staring contest.

Lockhart grinned like he had won a prize. “Yes, he did, he’s very dedicated. Whoever let him go lost a great butler, though I certainly don’t complain about it.”

Then his smug, pleased smile vanished as he shot her another serious look. When he talked, however, he politely looked to the side and his voice was light and relaxed.

“So, I know you’re no real street urchin, not quite enough desperation in your edges, but neither are you a proper house child, so to speak. Quite curious, that. It really isn’t that hard to see from the way you guard and handle your friends and others and, well, yourself, too. Just how long have you been managing your own affairs?”

Riko went very still, taking care to breath very evenly and, since he continued to look politely over her shoulder, she mirrored that after the first sharp glance at him.

“Eh, proper house child, what is that even supposed to be,” she said with a smile. It wasn’t her best smile, admittedly, bit on the wry side, but it was good enough, she thought, as she wasn’t that worried. Not yet. “Guess I just got more exercise in the last couple years than proper house children do, y’know, get out of the house and travel, see stuff and meet people or whatever..”

Riko knew her smirk got a little impish then, but it really was fun. And it also got her closer to poking him a bit more, because she was increasingly curious about this man. There were layers here, that she hadn’t even guessed at and it was just.. fascinating.

“You might want to take a bit more care about hiding your edges, Miss Slyver, just a little advice from one trickster to the other,” Lockhart, if that was truly his name, said mildly. “Your head of house seemed rather worried this morning.”

Riko thought a little about what to answer to that and in the mean time shot him another look, a politely dubious one, because really, Professor Snape sounding or looking perceivably worried? Please..

“Oh, hidden under all his reservations and curt dealing with dear Pomona, of course, I doubt she picked up on it, beyond the direct cause. But he was a bit disturbed, it was quite interesting to note. What exactly did happen this morning, I wonder.”

Riko threw him another, more reserved, look and he quickly gave a small shrug, raising his hands in a gesture of mock-innocence.

“Now, now, I’m just a curious fellow, not looking to make trouble, quite the opposite in fact. As you might’ve noted,” he gestured a little at the last words and Riko thought that did warrant a reply.

“Right, you’re pretending to be a fraud, a criminal fraud at that, to have a scrambled mind, and you’ve been pretending to be a complete idiot the entire year. Quite the opposite of trouble, indeed. Oh, now what? – What!?”

Lockhart had first shown another very pleased smile at her comment, but at the quote of Captain Finnegan, which had made it’s way into Riko’s usual speech pattern a while ago, he practically radiated mirth.

“Oh, nothing,” Lockhart grinned cheerfully. “I just wanted to compliment you, you know, usually, people only see what they want to see, or expect to see, it’s fairly rare that someone just looks around and sees. And without getting all worked up about it, indeed without attaching anything to it at all. I was quite astounded when I noticed that last one..”

“Well, it wasn’t my business and you didn’t seem.. involved in anything.. bothersome,” Riko waved her hands vaguely, still trying to figure this all out.

“Ah, checked that, didn’t you?” He seemed simply amused and interested, nothing untoward on the radar, so Riko just shrugged.

“Visiting the library’s no crime, least as far as I see it. So, did you find what you were looking for?”

He made a sound that was a mix between a laugh and clearing his throat and eyed her with a bit more caution? Shrewdness? Riko wasn’t quite sure, which was a little unsettling but also rather interesting.

“Well, yes and no,” he said wryly after a few moments. “And see, that’s what I meant about being no proper house child and edges. For one, at your age, children, even if they may choose to flaunt them, usually still acknowledge the authorities and rules that order their lives. Say, what are they to you?”

More or less arbitrary constructs of varying importance, ranging from useful to obstacle to easily ignored, depending on one’s situation and goals, that one shouldn’t get caught messing with, thought Riko, but she wasn’t going to say that to him now, really. Instead, she shot him a mutinous look which he answered with another wry smile and raised eyebrows.

“Peace, Miss Slyver, just saying, y’know. As for what I was researching.. it was something about a changeover, bit of an obscure ritual just for personal curiosity, and I did find some clues but they didn’t play out as I’d hoped. I imagine you know the way that sometimes goes.”

Riko’s mood did a sharp nosedive at this comment and she looked straight at the screen behind his bed. With a conscious effort she loosened her shoulders then, and took an even breath. No point going on about spilt milk, was there?

“So you came to Hogwarts for that research? And then it didn’t turn out as you hoped and now you’re pretending to have a scrambled mind,” she stated neutrally, to get back to the point or away from that other mess, “Really, I wonder why you’d think that a good idea, considering you obviously didn’t obliviate people or steal their stories.”

“Well, no, I didn’t, but there was some literal freedom involved in the writing, of course, and since I said it to those two boys there’d surely be all sorts of enquiries now, if I were declared healthy again, and I’m sure you can understand why a person might want to avoid that sort of scrutiny,” he sighed and even with the amusement in his tone he sounded tired and also a little resigned or, well, at least dismayed.

“Would you.. would you tell me what happened that evening?” Riko asked then, because, well, he seemed not averse to talking but it was a breach of their more vague conversation-style so far.

“Oh, well, to be honest, it’s still a bit of a mystery to me, how it all happened,” his smile was turned self-deprecating, which looked utterly odd even on the straight-haired, tired-looking Lockhart-face. “I knew I’d annoyed some of the teachers over the course of the year, see, it’s always a great distraction technique, but then Miss Weasley was taken and it was brought up I should look for her. Placed myself in a bit of a situation there, gambling it had blown over and all, y’know,” he said, a little vaguely and Riko gave a neutral hum, remembering quite well his antics.

Lockhart shot her another dry smile. “No sudden fires today, eh, appreciate it. It’s rather odd how it all escalated so madly, really. I was in my rooms and, well, I’ll be honest, I really was going to leave, then. I mean, I didn’t even know how to find her, and even if I had, what could I have done, unequipped as I was. I had.. well, I had got myself a rifle over the Christmas holidays, y’know, something to definitely count on, there’s that saying, y’know, no matter what, a knife’s a knife, and I can tell you from experience that goes double for a well-placed shot.”

He interrupted himself with a sigh, scratching the back of his head thoughtfully before continuing with a light voice that reminded Riko of people distancing themselves from whatever they were talking about. She knew from experience, both from Vi and, well, herself, if she was quite honest.

“Problem was, beside not knowing where the girl was or the fact I was hired to teach, not slay monsters, it didn’t work any more. It was a possibility, of course, but I had gone for a rather old-fashioned one on purpose, they hold out longer usually, but I guess I had just overestimated the time it’d keep. So, well, I was all set to leave with this reasoning, when those two showed up..”

Now he was shaking his head and his face was sort of astounded. It made sense, actually, at least to Riko, who had after all met Potter and Ronald on some occasions. They were just insane, and clearly Lockhart had got caught in one of Potter’s trademark catastrophes. Remembering last year, it made Riko feel for the man. She’d been there, after all.

“It was quite astounding; they knew where to go and what the monster was but they didn’t tell anyone but me. I still don’t understand it, really, both had already decided ages ago I was a fraud. But, well, on we went on our merry way to those secret tunnels, me at wand-point, and I mean to say, it was just madness, really. We were all going to die down there, I knew that for a fact, and I am rather keen on avoiding a stupid, ignoble, or otherwise avoidable death.”

Lockhart shook his head absently, obviously still affected by the memory, then he sighed and a small, dry smile played at his mouth.

“Shows what I know, eh. I’d first hoped to dissuade them, of course, showing them they were on their own, that I wasn’t going to be any help, and they believed that easily enough, but it didn’t stop them in the least. So I had to up the ante, didn’t I, and since they already believed that, it was a rather good bet it’d work, with the Obliviate. Optimistic, of course, but I’ve always been that..”

He sighed again, looking ruefully at his hands. Little things were starting to piece together in Riko’s mind as he paused, clearly thinking on how to continue.

“Well, Potter is one walking catastrophe where reasonable odds and insane escalations are concerned,” she assured him, still puzzling at the clues he’d handed her so far. It was.. optimistic, indeed, if it was that. The silence stretched, and the puzzle kept assembling.

“Y’know how often I heard someone say they hadn’t seen you correctly perform one single spell?” Riko asked after a while, carefully testing out her forming theory.

“Yes, well, expectation does play a major role in any sympathetic effect, of course, it was a risk,” he shrugged easily, appearing entirely unconcerned, even amused. Riko nodded slowly, the picture sharpening and coming into focus.

“Squib?” she asked lightly.

He let go a breath then, closed his eyes a moment and breathed in so carefully and evenly Riko grew actually a bit alarmed. He only grinned, though, as easily as he had shrugged, drawing back his shoulders, and if that wasn’t a classic lets-face-the-music move then she was a giant squid.

“Nah, stumbled in on complete accident, sometime in the seventies, heh, Merlin, was I a silly lad then..” his sigh and short smile were fond, no doubt about it, and Riko lightly tilted her head in an unvoiced question.

A flicker of loss and sadness travelled over his features, but he shook it off quickly and there was that flashing, brilliant can-do Lockhart-smile again, only this time it was not a mask at all.

“Made some friends then, best I ever had. My, and the fun we had. Y’know, those two Weasley pranksters never stop reminding me of them. All the dire darkness of that time couldn’t get us down and how often our tricks and my expertise of the muggle world and quick-talking saved our hides, good times, always entertaining..” he shook his head as he trailed off, then shrugged again, as if to say, well, why ever stop?

And it wasn’t an act at all, and that was what really blew her mind. Well, that and the fact it really was.. it was quite thoroughly inconceivable. Except it wasn’t, of course, it was fantastic and, well, what else could she do?

Riko exploded into laughter. Or, actually, the laughter exploded out of her and if she had thought she’d had it bad when Theo had thought her the heir, well, that was nothing compared to this. It might’ve been because she was still a bit weak, but Riko doubted that was the reason she was utterly and completely knackered after what felt like an eternity of laughter. It was like a well, no a geysir, but now not of rage, no, of laughter had sprung up inside her and she just couldn’t stop it at all. And then she noticed the way he was just looking at her, and she was sitting here and, it was so much like a twist on that inconceivable talk last year that it set her off all over again. It was a wonder she didn’t choke or anything.

“Oh ye gods, that’s just..” Riko almost started all over again, but managed to contain her laughter after a few more wheezes. She cleared her throat. “Ah, I apologize, it’s just really fantastic,” she said very seriously then, because, well, he was still eyeing her rather relaxedly, but she _had_ been in a very similar situation, and she was quite aware that he had probably even less reassurance, and even if he did, it was only fair to state her intent.

“Fantastic, hm, yeah, I thought so, too,” he said a bit shyly.

Shyly! It just took the cake and Riko couldn’t help the grin that split her face. He looked both proud and slightly embarrassed and, well, a little shy. Not used to having that particular prank appreciated, hah, no wonder. It was also something he allowed to show, and there were other things going on, too, but that was alright, wasn’t it, it was messy enough for that.

“Right, so getting carted to St. Mungo’s is the best way out right now, I get it. Probably no problem to make an exit from there, too,” Riko nodded, tracing the logic and logistics from this new point of view. It earned her a very sharp look from, well, was his name Lockhart at all?

“Oh, I’m keeping my options open, really, no reason to go on the lam prematurely,” he shrugged and it tickled something in Riko’s mind.

So, this was not intended as a method of retreat, or at least not solely. If anything, it was a retreat from the current situation and also a way to slide into another plan or, no, nothing so inflexible, rather into another set of possibilities and situations, yes, but it was also clearly to not lose this Gilderoy Lockhart persona, despite it’s current disadvantages. Hm.

“How exactly did you become Gilderoy Lockhart, that you still want to keep him despite, well, everything?” Riko gestured vaguely, suddenly very interested.

Perhaps because it was so different from the expected, seeing how even the founders and that stupid ghost had at some point just decided to cut their losses. And here he was, this fantastic, madly brilliant muggle, caught in a situation that had turned on him and caught him unaware, and he didn’t even seem to accept the situation, or rather the view of the situation that any other person would see. It was astounding. And, well, Riko could admit she was a little envious. Here she was, stuck with all that ugly shit that had made up this entire situation and it was all she could do to keep it out of her head for the moment. How did he manage to just look at the world and see it so differently, as one big set of possibilities that he could play with? And seeing that he could, why would he want to keep Gilderoy Lockhart?***

“Oh, you mean did I meet my true epic love as Gilderoy Lockhart and that’s why I can’t let go of it like any other costume that a con man uses?”

His smile was lightly mocking, though more amused than insulting, and Riko tilted her head slightly in a continued question instead of speaking up again. This odd talk was quite thoroughly removed from any sort of daylight-reality, otherwise none of them would’ve been able to be as relaxed about their respective secrets coming out, but even so, or perhaps because of it, pushing for answers was just not on. If he wanted to he’d expound, if he didn’t he’d come up with something else. Mind, it did say something that he’d made the suggestion, ironic as it had been, but Riko knew well enough she lacked the context to properly place that part of the puzzle. He did want, it turned out.

“That’d be rather silly, surely,” he said, smirking proudly, “to reduce such a brilliant man as Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League and five times winner of Witch Weekly’s Most-Charming-Smile Award to a singular romantic interest, probably a dead one to boot, eh?”

He was looking at her very closely as he said it, as if searching for clues himself, to properly peg her, or perhaps to see how much she’d puzzle together with every little piece he handed her. It was rather depressing how limited the use of the cueroscope was when faced with a proper talker. Well, even so it was utterly fascinating, as far as conversations went.

“I admit it wouldn’t do a person justice,” Riko said easily enough, considering all the strings attached to the general subject. “After all, he’s been around twenty years or so, yeah? I imagine he’d have a number of people attached to him, dead or not..”

She shrugged at his sharp, attentive look, hoping he’d have the same problem of context for placing any pieces she handed him. It was very odd, to make even the vaguest mention in the direction when she was still dreading the talk with her friends. Thoughts of which had absolutely no place cropping up here and now, thank you very much. Luckily, the person Riko spontaneously, right now, decided to call Lockhart’s keeper continued, providing a good distraction.

“Hm, indeed, Lockhart had a number of friends and lovers over the years,” he agreed with a small, reminiscing smile, then he casually pulled some hair behind his ear and Riko’s attention increased even more at the gesture that all but ended that line. “Mind you, he also did a lot of awesome things, travelled a lot, wrote over ten books, he’s always been a busy guy, really, accomplished more than many a wizard in thrice that time. Be a shame to let him be done in by a faulty wand, no?”

She blinked at the words and all they dragged behind them. He was a muggle, so that meant twenty years were a lot of time, right? Lockhart was, so to speak, the work of his life, probably, and what a brilliant, fantastic piece of work he was. It made perfect sense, then, that he wouldn’t just discard him, and it was probably incredibly interesting for him to be admitted to St Mungo’s. With none being the wiser about his being in possession of all his faculties, the hospital would be like an unlocked store for him.

“So, you’ll continue you research there, hm? Or just look for another interesting project to strike your fancy?” Riko had worded it as questions but as she voiced it, she saw she was spot on. An expression of easy, relaxed amusement had flitted over his face just then and he leaned back again, a satisfied smile curling his mouth.

“Something like that,” he replied nonchalantly, “Useful distractions, isn’t that what life is about, hm? I always thought it a bit of a waste when people get worked up over what is. It just is, after all, no use moaning about it, just do what you want and are able to. No point in letting other people’s shit encroach on your life and all that.”

Riko had the urge to shoot him a very sharp look at that, but managed to contain herself and settle for a neutral, thoughtful one. True, he was stating his mind, but he was rather obviously putting it in her face as advice, too. Which was probably fair enough, hadn’t she just admitted to herself she envied him. But still, it grated. It was with some annoyance that she realized she had crossed her arms defensively. With a sigh she pulled some hair behind her ears and stared unseeingly at the screen behind the person who had created and then pretty much become Gilderoy Lockhart. It was still mind-boggling that not even the headmaster had caught on - and now she was distracting herself again, and not even usefully.

He was right, after all. Was that why it grated so? Or was it because she had got it right before and now she couldn’t get it done? And why couldn’t she, really, what was different? It wasn’t even as personal this time!

Huh.. was that it then, perhaps? It was after all the thing that was most obviously different. The sinking feeling in her gut seemed to confirm the theory and sheesh, if that wasn’t ironic, then she really didn’t know.

“How did you manage to pull it over the headmaster?” Riko asked abruptly, because while it was nice to get closer to solving her own tangled mess, it wasn’t a pleasant feeling and a bit of a spiral approach or whatever did help. Touch and go, or rather touch and distance.

There was a small huff of a laugh from the, well, the real core of Lockhart, still sitting there all relaxed and shit and well, great, here he was, collecting context, but somehow Riko couldn’t work up any real aggravation about it.

“Oh, it’s rather easy, really,” he said easily, “the smarter people are, the easier they make it on you if you just give them enough supposedly hidden hints. Besides, depending on how you look at it, such a thing as _the_ truth doesn’t really exist anyway, it’s all subjective. And you have to be really convinced of what you present, of course, but that goes without saying, no?”

“Method acting, hm?” Riko grinned back at that last part and carefully stored it all for later analysis, pleased at his blink and the following huff of laughter.

“Wonder which muggle told you bout that, kid,” he smirked, then shrugged airily, “You’re right, though, sorta. Mind, I’ve heard good friends of mine say he could read minds so it was essential here, but it’s the basis of it all anyway. Can’t expect others to believe you if you don’t yourself, so you just have to make your own truth.”

“Yeah, yeah, expectations all around and all that. And it wasn’t a muggle as told me, either,” Riko smirked back, mostly at his assumption. “Greatest teacher ever, her.”

She finished with an airy shrug to match his own, and it wasn’t hard at all. Eliria-sensei was a good memory. Good memories, plural, and she was bound to be still around, having fun and being fantastic somewhere, and that was a good thing to recall, too. Get her head out of the ditch of dead people it had leaned into recently.

“Huh, hadn’t taken you for a brooder,” his voice blindsided her and she glanced up sharply. “Might explain your bad reaction, system can’t handle what it isn’t used to dealing with, hm?”

He only shot her a cheerful, innocent Lockhart-smile at her narrowed eyes and Riko forced her shoulders to relax, again, bloody damnit, and take a look at her own mess again. She knew what to do, after all, if only in a general way, and she better use her chance to plan before she had to deal with a suspicious Professor Snape tomorrow.

It was, after all, still very much the same as the last times: she just needed to get a view of what she could do and what she wanted to do. The difficult part was of course that she hadn’t been the one hit or hurt or even targeted directly, making it harder to define her interests. And there was so much she had no chance of altering anyway, too; if she were to make a list of it she’d just fall further into brooding. Pointless, that. Riko sighed tiredly, absently running her hand through her hair and not really seeing the screen beside the bed at all. She did appreciate the silence right now, that this Lockhart-but-not-Lockhart gave her. He didn’t have to, after all, didn’t owe her shit, and here she was distracting again. Stars and shades.

Right, what was it that she could do, or even that she could’ve done. She couldn’t have saved her house guardian even if she’d found him, and wasn’t that just depressing, just because she was no parselmouth. And really, he was the truly damaged party here, wasn’t he?

Truth and historical facts didn’t care, they were just what people perceived them and even if she could suddenly show all her proof to every single idiotic person in Wizarding Britain they wouldn’t care for it. People, and even worse, societies, were like that, she knew that well enough.

All other people that had been involved had either left or were dead or both, so the only directly injured party really was the Slytherin guardian. Well, and his friends, but Riko didn’t kid herself that she could do anything for them. Well, and the castle, so to speak, though she cared nothing for it’s wishes, gutless as it was. Served it right, didn’t it, to lose quarter of it’s defences.

The thought filled her with fresh anger because that really was the problem, wasn’t it. The castle deserved quite a lot, in her opinion, but the people to directly pay the price would be the people living here. And while Riko didn’t care very much for everyone here, they didn’t deserve what the castle deserved. And that, right there, was the reason she’d never serve any country or lofty cause, had decided that early on, when she’d been small and heard all sorts of stories about heroic soldiers and what not. When they weren’t relegated to heroic numbers of lives lost, which only meant battle fodder with no chance to change anything themselves, there always came that point when they had to do what they knew was wrong, usually to cover for other wrongs already done by whatever group they belonged to, had to deal with the mess others had made for them, and often be blamed and get-rid-of for it, too.

Well, she wouldn’t. Heck, the stories Gara had told of his younger days.. it was small wonder he’d been so intrigued by Darshu. K’so, and distracted by tangents again.. Right. Who was the perpetrator? Tom bloody Voldemort Riddle, she’d keep that name in mind, alright. What was the crime, if it came down to it in summary and all? The death of the basilisk, with all the loss of guardian that entailed, even if he hadn’t been active in a long time. What was the motive, then, what was the gain? Did it matter?

She couldn’t bring him back to life, now could she? She couldn’t pay the killer a proper visit, the thing in the diary was dead by all accounts and who knew where it’s original was - not that she fancied going after that insane menace, she wasn’t suicidal after all. Hm, rather similar to number two of her own, in that respect, wasn’t it.

Was there another way to spit in his eye, like with the fangs? Hm.

“Come up with an angle at last, hm?”

There was a thread of warm satisfaction slipping along the light amusement in the words of, well, he really was the true Lockhart wasn’t he, under all those layers. Riko was still amazed, at his entirely improbable existence, at his incredible accomplishment, and that he had for some odd reason decided to let her know.

“Because I could, of course,” he grinned as he answered the question or rather questions she knew her face must have asked.

She wouldn’t have voiced them, and that he could so easily read her was rather disturbing even if she was admittedly not in the mindset for real subterfuge. Huh, well, perhaps that was a reason, too. Where else or when would he get the chance to, hah, just be, and wasn’t that a turn of phrase she’d heard just recently.

It really was nice though, this little talk that was going to have never happened for all the world knew. Restful somehow, and also a promise of a sort, not in regards to them but of all the things that could be done, could be pulled off. Because yes, Riko would call herself plenty open to making real ideas that others might consider insane, but the memory of this here would show her to always be ready to go a few steps further. Besides, it was really the only answer that ever came close, wasn’t it. Because I could, indeed. There were always other reasons, too, but that was really at the root of it, and it was good to keep that in mind, too.

“Yeah, potential angle, I’ll check into it,” she smiled with real relief this time, feeling the remains of curled up, lurking anger start to dissolve in her guts, turn into the warm excitement of potential.

It was great, to have that settled, to not have to worry about undirected mires of hate and rage becoming a permanent part of her, dragging her down and eating away at her like grubby parasites. They wouldn’t vanish into nothing, of course, and there was still a shitload to do. For one she had to construct a stable reasoning for Professor Snape tomorrow. She still had to properly order all the parts that had and could still lead to that burning hate and rage, store that, and them, just like the others of their kind. That’d take time, for sure, so not tonight, or only a little.

And there were other things still on her list, like that book down there and all the other things she wouldn’t let any potential investigator find. They didn’t deserve it, any of it, although Riko was by now sure there wouldn’t be any investigators. As far as she could see the whole thing would be hushed up, just like the other attacks. Pft, and didn’t that say it all, even made her feel a little sorry for that clueless Potter, stuck as the designated saviour of an entire society of liars, assholes, and idiots.

“Already planning, huh? Well, off you go then, that’s not exactly entertaining for me, sorry to say it,” Lockhart remarked with studied boredom, interrupting her thoughts and making her blush at her own rudeness.

“Oh, it’s quite understandable, of course,” he waved dismissively, at her and her reaction. “But I think at least a little sleep might be a good idea. Good night, Miss Slyver, and do remember to smile at fortune. Increases the chance of her smiling back, I’ve found.”

She rose then, with a bow, and left, giving her best wishes with a deep respect, as was owed to such a master of his skill. Her thoughts were already on the most pressing problem, getting by her head of house’s as yet unknown reaction tomorrow, so she was a little surprised when he called out to her just as she was about to leave his screened off section.

“Miss Slyver, one more thing,” he said, his tone as even and unreadable as Professor Snape on any day of the week. His face was serious in the weak darkness but even with her cat’s eyes she couldn’t make out anything else. The truce of subterfuge had quite obviously ended with their goodbyes, now what did he want?

“It was a very bad day, when I was the only one to truly know me, and not only because it meant I’d lost another friend or lover,” he said, his tone neutral and even enough to translate it to serious gravity in any other, normal person, as he continued, “I recommend you avoid that situation. In my experience, the later you start, the harder it is to find someone to truly guard your back.”

Riko didn’t know how to react, but thankfully he only nodded once more at her and then slid down in his bed, turning to his side to look at the screen. She made no sound on her way to her bed or settling into her favourite cross-legged thinking-position.

Taking a deep, even breath, she stored the advice without really looking at it, somewhere it wouldn’t get in the way, cause a tangle, or draw up distractions. She wasn’t an idiot, after all, she was already planning to tell them. But there were time-sensitive things that were further up the list, either more pressing or necessary so she’d still be in a position to tell them when she was ready. She’d try to do it before the summer holidays or, better, during the summer holidays, with some tweaking she was rather sure they could manage to get Vi invited _and_ allowed to visit the Eohyrdes, well, she was working on that no matter if she managed to tell them before the holidays and, damnit all, she hadn’t paid any attention to her listening runes in how long and gah.. there was so much to do!

It was a while until Riko slept. She only gave herself leave to properly flop down after she caught herself nodding off the fourth time, and when she did it proved her previous insistence on sitting up to think right. She was out in seconds. Well, who could plan properly while lying down and being tired, obvious, seriously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me just say that, upon application of brain to book two, I was rubbed very very wrongly by (well, a lot of things. But this pertains to the chapters titulat character) how the author wrote Lockhart, and the way the author wrote those that "fell for him".  
> Quite beside the entire "those who care for their appearance are shallow and/or bad"-theme that spans all books, quite beside the ugly queer-bashery, based on how "proper males" apparently have to be, and caring about their looks doesn fit in there, quite beside the, well, contempt for those characters who saw any value in Lockhart (who did send Hermione a get-well card when apparently nobody else thought to do that..)  
> or, no, rather not "quite beside". Front and center, really, once you look at it, and just, I want no part of this shite in my escapism thanks-ever-so-much.  
> So, yeah, I asked myself, this Lockhart fella, what would fit. And so now he is a muggle, and an all-around awesome muggle at that, and if anyone wants to know what exactly he was looking for in the library? it´s got to do with ettamedab, and yeah that´s because I read the book before I ever learned English ;-)  
> (and yeah, the reason the twins remind him of his friends? might be because their uncles thought he was hilarious and amazing to help them as he did, and they thought it was the best pank ever, too..)


	23. Clean-Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> clean-up, just as the title says.. ;-)

Riko woke with a groan, feeling so. much. _worse._ than last night, and this despite the lack of brainfreeze waking her. Instead, the offender was terribly bright light, and she was too warm and aching for a shower. First decently cold for clearing her head and then right hot to ease her aching muscles, but really, she just wanted to sleep a bit more before moving at all - but, no such luck.

“Good morning, Ms Slyver, so good to see you’re awake,” purred a voice, silk-smooth yet not peaceful at all, conjuring an image of warm, slow, shaded rivers, with horrific riptides just lying in wait.

Groggy, eyes so heavy and dry they felt crusted shut, her fuzzy brain groped to make sense of the disjointed piece of the current, puzzling input. Thus, Riko was only able to answer a mumbled, confused, “Nng, morn’n..?”

Using her tongue made her notice the bad taste in her mouth and with it, face drawing in distaste, slowly awareness was starting to creep in. This was odd, and not good, what.. why.. and wasn’t that..? “P’fess’r Snape..?”

There was no answer but even as she at last blinked her eyes open the atmosphere changed, charged up like standing right beside an electrical generator. Piece by piece memories struck, heavy, like falling debris ejected from a far-too-close volcano. Oh. Oh, _bollocks and shite_.

It had her jerk up, the view on that sprawling catastrophe, taking mortifying moments to try and sit up properly, face burning under the scrutiny of those unreadable black eyes. A grim, razor-thin smile was lurking at the edges of his mouth, promising prolonged, vivisection-level murder.

“Interesting performance yesterday,” Professor Snape said, dry, sardonic, and obviously quite done with any and all niceties and mercies. “Anything else at all you might want to add..?”

Riko gulped drily, silently shaking her head. No way did she want to add to that, gods and _spirits_ , she’d had something to deal with this, right? She’d thought up all sort of plans and pieces to use? But even with the dread coiling heavy in her guts, her head was still sluggishly trying to just wake and..

“Mmhmmm,” Professor Snape was so obviously unimpressed and unsurprised by her not-reply he all but exuded it like a bonfire light and warmth. Except in a terrible, acidic and sinister way. His eyebrow rose in the faintest, doubtful twitch. “In that case how about you try and explain your behaviour, hm?”

Another gulp of stale, dry air, laced with shock, bloody _shit_ , she must’ve really fucked up to have her head-of-house run such a surprise attack, damn..

“Well, ah,” Riko bit her lips, nervous at this blanket question, as if he wanted to give her all the rope necessary to properly hang herself with. “I er.. I didn’t really read much in the Restricted Section, I mean, well, yes, not just a little, but not.. really Restricted Stuff, y’know, just lots of old biographies and annals and such..” she took a breath, then got set to properly defend and distract. “..and I mean, I really don’t see why any of this’d be restricted, yeah, like.. like Arches of Sorcery by that Nott fourteen-whatever, that was really just name-dropping, mostly, and a little bit on architecture, probably the whole lot was just shoved to the back shelves, they’re not even properly listed in the main card register, which, yeah, not surprising, that was only made when the school governors were installed, and by _that_ time everything that didn’t seem interesting for teaching just got ignored so nobody wanted to bother, but it’s not like they’re about, dunno, summoning unspeakable horrors or sacrificing people.. which I didn’t look up, at all, ever..”

She decided to stop then, fighting the impression of having said too much already. Professor Snape was still spearing her with his most unimpressed look, flat obsidian eyes evaluating, clearly displeased by her choice of matter to clear up. But she hadn’t admitted to anything else that could get her into official trouble, right? She was pretty sure of that, it didn’t deal with her.. kcho’so, hysterics, really, but..

“Hm, let me summarize that,” Professor Snape drawled after a tense moment of mutual staring, “For some unfathomable reason you persisted in the peculiar notion that an adventure book explicitly sold as fiction has more weight than approved learning literature.

Your next step was then to research records not cleared for students, personal records, which, in light of recent discoveries, should make clear their potential worth. The conclusions of which _then_ led you to display a classical Black temper, including but not limited to trying, and I quote, to punch the castle in the balls, and, by the way, sparking the most ridiculous rumours now coursing throughout the school.”

Well. Bollocks. And when he put it like that.. oh shit, fuck, blast and blast it _frozen_. Everything was clearly _shit_. Riko swallowed drily, taking care to keep her hands very still and flat on the cover, trying to exude ‘harmless’ in every way possible. Because he didn’t sound angry, didn’t look it either, no, water-level even voice, still that evaluating, discerning look, which clearly meant this was so, so much worse, shite!

“Rumours..?” she asked, as much a last bid to divert as to learn just what sort of doom she’d have to face once she got out of here. And spirits, did he have to say ‘persisted’ in _that_ way, blast it all..

Professor Snape’s entirely _un_ amused scimitar of a smile, almost on the level of Potter-failing-his-potion- _again_ , let her stomach sink. Full-on looming implication of judging you for having fucked up after exact instructions not to, right there. Didn’t matter if those had been on the blackboard for a potion or directly told after he’d kept her out of further trouble after the griffin-debacle, had been clear enough either way. So much for a diversion then, fantastic, not to mention the slivers of shame and guilt forming and worming in her guts. Value of her thanks right there, it said, thrown back into his face. Well, and hers, now.

“Oh, no point in listing them all, much as they may currently.. agitate the populace,” he said drily, the lack of further inflection a sharp point, a refusal to give even an inch of ground or info.

And fuck if she could argue. Because, and what a time to think of it now, but if she had at any point told him about the guardians they’d found then he might have actually found a way. Even leaving aside the griffin disaster, he was certainly sharp enough for Rikash. And Viatrix, chog-o-oh, in that last week, instead of trying to find a street from the air, telling him and letting him deal with the bear could only have been better than the failure they had produced. K’so, merde alors and chog-oh!

It had her draw a slow, quietly leaden breath, shame and guilt multiplying in the space of a second, leaving her a stiff, hollowed-out ant-hill of a person, crawling with the sudden, cold-burning realization of just how much she’d fucked this all up. And here she was arguing about having been in the Restricted Section, and after exploding at the person that had bloody well told her, her entire house, but her directly, to speak if they had any hints, stars and bloody shades!

It was a heavy hit, as was knowing she still couldn’t tell him, and not even just on account of the trouble it might get her, and also her friends, into. In order to realize her plan of reparations, a debt so much heavier than she’d thought yesterday, she couldn’t tell him, he couldn’t know, no matter what she owed him, bollocks, freeze it all, and burn it, too!

Still, unpleasant as it was, it pushed her into proper quicktime, was a live current, jerking her into focus, only a thin layer over her roiling failure but she had to walk that tight-rope now, enough stumbling about already! Her head had fallen back against the headboard, baring her throat, and Riko gulped again, hastily looking down, studying the way her toes were poking out from under the cover.

“My apologies,” she said, hoping he might take her move as the instinctive mammal reaction, not like it _wasn’t_ that, too, in a way, shit. A short glance up revealed he was still trying to vivisect her with his sharp, dark eyes, and she cleared her throat.

Nervously wetting her lips, she fixed her gaze toe-wards again. “My apologies for.. my extreme lack of manners and circumspection in this,” she forced out, face burning with real shame.

Then, taking another deep breath, she called herself to attention. This was necessary. It wouldn’t do any good if she told him the entire sordid mess now, and she didn’t owe it to him, as such, either. What with him discarding the idea of it all so entirely and his comments about sources not cleared for students and all. It cleared her head even further.

“However, I’d like to point out that, in contrast to the current case of officially debunked charlatan, reading over and comparing different biographies and the like is a valid practice any historian would use, too, and once a certain number, even of differing camps of conflicts, mention certain things, in different ways and context, one can assume they weren’t just making up nonsense.”

Professor Snape’s raised eyebrow and forbidding look called up the sour way he sometimes reacted to Amy when she gave an answer he hadn’t wanted her to, correct as it might be. Riko raised her hands in an appeasing gesture and hastily continued. She did not want to get pinned to that point of all things, did not want to face questions about what sources exactly, fuck no, no, just no.

“Mind, I’m not going to start a bloody crusade over it, obviously, but I’m not going to pretend it’s all just great and right, because it’s _not_ ,” Riko practically bit her tongue to cut off that thread, hand flying to draw some hair behind her ear.

“And I know it’s all but a happy end with Hagrid cleared and A.. everyone cured, even if it doesn’t change the sheer idiocy of him being taken to Azkaban in the first place, and I know there’s no point in ranting about that, either, or about Potter and his pig-sticker tendencies, for that matter. And certainly not at you or like _that_..”

‘ _..But..?_ ’ Professor Snape was asking, silently, with only a sardonic look, still evaluating, his thoughts and reaction remaining hidden behind his unreadable mask. Fantastic, more rope to hang herself with, Riko thought, but continued anyway, inching forward on a tight-rope of literal truths.

“Well, ’f course there wasn’t much to do after that last attack, on.. Ms Granger and Clearwater, ’xcept try and find some hints in the library, and obviously there were no real hints when.. when Ms Weasley ended up in that chamber, but, well, it didn’t really make sense, afterwards, I mean..”

Professor Snape shot her a look of blackest, meanest amusement when she floundered, because so far she’d been able to avoid any mention of her friends, but for how long, and he knew already she wouldn’t have been all on herself through all that and.. k’so-damnit! How far will you go, how long will you keep that up, his lurking switchblade of unholy amusement seemed to ask.

“For one, the lack of dead,” Riko said, resolutely, only just stopping herself from crossing her arms but unable to not raise her head just so.

“Of course I heard about the diary,” she breezed over it as if the matter of sources was just non-existent, “and really, if that basilisk _had_ been out to kill muggleborns there probably wouldn’t be any left, wouldn’t ’ve been from the first time, fifty years ago, I mean, already that they found the body, Myrtle’s, at all, makes no sense, he could’ve easily ate her.”

She’d been tempted to put a rhetorical ‘right?’ at the end, but she wasn’t going to make that debatable because it was bloody obvious. The slight tipping of his head to the side and rising of an eyebrow that little, enquiring fraction seemed to prove her right. Of course, his increase in curiosity could cost her dearly, but, well, clearly there was no escape anyway, better deal with it right sharp.

“So, obviously the lack of whole-sale death and doom didn’t fit, considering what a basilisk _could_ do if it wanted, yeah, they’re wicked sharp, says so in any decent description, and then, when you look up Parseltongue and various descriptions of _that_ it turn out it’s a bit like.. influencing, y’know, suggestive, like alcohol maybe, to a point, not like catnip for cats, no, but..”

She gestured awkwardly, found herself unable to explain properly and then decided to forego the attempt, forging ahead anyway. “Thing is, it’s not just translating, there’s spells for that, and that _does_ fit with the lack of death and doom, alright, obviously, and just.. in the whole context.. I do apologize, and of course it’d be a bad idea to have students run around at night with a monster on the loose, but after.. after the feast and all, and, just, it didn’t make _sense_ and so I had to.. I had to..”

Riko didn’t look at him, or up, not even in his direction, stared angrily at her toes, keeping her hands flat on the cover and taking an even breath. No use getting worked up again; stay rational now, that was the trick. He’d wanted her to explain herself, she better do that or he’d keep an eye on her _forever._

“I don’t believe in any bullshit ideas of _better off not knowing_ ,” she stated flatly, keen to end this but also hackles up enough to draw a line. “I’ll still admit to reading Restricted books and I still intend to veto anyone who tells me annals and biographies and that belong in there, and Binns _is_ worse’n useless, and far as I know that’s it.”

Because that really was it, right, it explained everything to any one who had more than two dry braincells to rub together, and she certainly wouldn’t implicate her friends any further than she probably already had. Riko shot him a short, flat stare to make that clear but then let her eyes skitter away quickly. No starting stare-downs, certainly not with her head-of-house, no confrontational behaviour now, when she was supposed to explain her fuck-up and get away from it at least moderately cleared, instead of being stuck as a suspect forever.

The silence dragged on, but Riko refused to look up. That was the most obvious of all traps ever and she had to make clear the subject of dubious research practices and especially of potential accomplices was closed.

But of course he wouldn’t give up, bloody shit, this was Professor shade-damned Snape, the word and-or concept probably didn’t even exist in his vocabulary. Well, if Riko had to chose between getting confrontational and thus being a suspect or her friends getting drawn into this fuck-up, then she knew what she’d chose, every single time. After all, she could take care of herself perfectly fine and had none of their terrible problems.

She didn’t even want to know the trouble Vi would catch from her cursed mess of a family, and Edie would sink into the ground of shame and possibly die then and there, maybe even not come back to Hogwarts any more, and Amy, k’so, Riko already knew the Gryffindors were not to be trusted with her friend and if Potter, learned or just thought she’d ‘told on him’, not to mention Ronald with his temper explosions, there was an escalation waiting to happen. No way would Riko say a single word, specially with last week being her very own, personal mess of digging in hateful history. Better to stare down Professor Snape, even if it was doomed to end in.. doom. Chog-oh, damnit, and merde-a-k’so.

At least she managed to not cross her arms, and after a few moments Professor Snape seemed to grow bored of it, raising an eyebrow just so, exuding ‘so beneath me, this here, and tiresome, and a waste of my precious, better-used-elsewhere time’ without a single word.

Which, well, _she_ wasn’t the one holding him here, now was she, Riko almost said. Didn’t say, but something of it must’ve shown, even with her face frozen in defensive blankness, because he gave a short, exasperated sigh, and deigned to speak at last, in a tone both tolerant and caustic.

“Hagrid enquired after you,” he said, “over lunch..”

In the momentary pause after those words Riko almost groaned. Over lunch. At the High Table. Hagrid asked, aka at least half the Great Hall heard him. Oh ye bloody feckin’ stars and shades, for _shits sake_.

“.. he expressed his worry, and apparently you hadn’t parted on the best of terms..”

Riko did groan at that, hiding her face in her hands just long enough to take a deep breath. Gods and bloody _spirits_ , this was beyond mortifying, damnit! Hagrid had been so scared of anything happening to them, and of Azkaban, and she hadn’t visited him, and he just had to go and _ask_ her head-of-fucking-house, merde a-bloody-lors!

For a Gryff, Amy notwithstanding of course, Hagrid was generally pretty good at keeping things quiet, just look at Norbert or the mess with the Philosopher’s stone. But when he did talk it was like a giant neon sign, illuminating everything in the area. And she couldn’t even ask what exactly he’d said!

“Loki’s.. nets,” Riko caught herself at the last moment.

A short glance at Professor Snape to gauge his current level of suspicion revealed dark amusement so insidious it bled from his mocking black eyes into his entire face, subtle but there. It didn’t hide the sharp awareness or the edges below all those layers, like rocks under water, waiting to cut open the unwary. Clearly damage-control was the best and only thing to hope for, no chance he’d ever just ignore or forget any of it. Far too much like Lord Malfoy, and small wonder, with him being Draco’s spellfather, she should thank all the gods, spirits, and fates those two didn’t seem to compare notes. Riko had the uncomfortable suspicion Professor Snape would be far less tolerantly amused at her way of handling her own matters than Lord Malfoy; he already saw more responsibilities to her as her head-of-house. If he were her spellfather, she knew there was no way he’d be as easy-going as Lord Malfoy. The silence was dragging and she cleared her throat again.

“We visited him, in February, and asked him on the matter, because he.. he’d been implicated in a roundabout way – what with getting expelled and all – and so we asked him, and of course it hadn’t been him but then he.. uh.. didn’t want us to get involved and in trouble..”

Professor Snape lifted one eyebrow a damning fraction, a quiet, brutally sharp reminder of having done exactly the same, because apparently that was the prerogative of grown-ups: telling them to not help and then not getting the job done themselves. Even if the Untouchables hadn’t got it done either, but if they hadn’t had to always hide their efforts.. anyway, not the place or time.

“..well, he meant well, of course, but none of us are quite as bad off as him,” Professor Snape’s stare somehow managed to intensify, so Riko added, “what with Hagrid being.. Hagrid, y’know,” because he couldn’t _not_ know about Hagrid being a half-giant and having no family to stand up for him and all that. And she wasn’t going so crass as to mention it. “..and anyway, none of us were hiding a giant.. uh.. pet in the castle, so it was just.. well, a mutual overreaction. I’ll have to visit him and uh, clear up any.. rumours or misunderstandings.. in general, too, of course..”

“Hm,” replied Professor Snape, sounding about a million times as ominous as Edie’d ever managed with that exact comment.

Riko swallowed drily and continued looking sheepish and apologetic. Well, she _was_ sheepish and apologetic, but it was a good thing to hide behind, too, to end this more or less on a normal note, clear her of at least some of his immediate suspicion.

And then Professor Snape nodded, once, calm, and thoughtfully. In the back of her head an echo of Vi’s voice diagnosed ‘a really bad feeling’ and damn that stupid wording to the bottom of all the hell pits ever dreamt up.

“Quite,” Professor Snape said, still bone-dry and then he smiled, a thin, cutting smile that wasn’t so much humour-less as a sign of all the terrible things he could find amusing. “I’m sure you won’t have any trouble finding a housemate to accompany you,” he smirked as some of her confusion must have shown, because, what the.. just, what? Riko was thrown, to say the least, but then..

“Seeing as from the moment you are fit to leave the hospital wing you will be required to have at least one Slytherin.. shall we say witness? At all times. Only to give you the best possible way to combat any rumours, of course.”

Even with the quicktime it was hard to even start wrapping her mind around that.. that. That had to be the reason she just sat there, blinked once, otherwise completely frozen, or maybe hypnotised. Come to think of it, he couldn’t really be serious and things were starting to have a bit of a dreamlike quality because that couldn’t be right.. he couldn’t really, possibly _mean_ that..?

“Ah, and to help speed your recovery you are also forbidden from the library for the rest of the.. end of the year,” Professor Snape said, _cheerily_ , damn him, and he was actually serious, and also far too smug about throwing that little quote back at her, and that wasn’t good, either, but..

“Just to make sure you really get enough rest,” he continued, clearly set to use any edge necessary to pen her in, “children need their sleep, I’ve been informed, again,” and Riko had to gulp at the look he shot her at that, gods and spirits, what _had_ Madam Pomfrey said to him? “There is a multitude of potential, permanently negative effects if they don’t, so I’m sure you’ll be glad of the opportunity to recuperate before the summer holidays start..”

And then he raised his eyebrow, expectantly, layers of satisfaction radiating from like.. like radiation from a bloody nuclear plant, the damned..! _Shit!_ Riko took a breath and blinked, again.

“Of course,” she said, mechanically, glad to have the excuse of her dry throat even if it hardly covered half of the croaking misery that was her voice.

Because of course he just _had_ to have her agree to that condemnation, to politely accept it, hah, as if she even _could_ disagree, never mind how insane it’d be to even _try_ and argue back, against _him_ and in _that_ situation! It was a right piss-poor show of it, too, of that famed graceful Slytherin backing down thing she perfectly knew he wanted, but Riko just.. couldn’t. She was still in a sort of disbelieving daze, still too mushy-headed to even try and come up with ways to deal.

Perhaps he even enjoyed it, gleeful, evil bastard, satisfied at teaching a failure a lesson and all that, or maybe, between all his layers, he’d hit on that vein of tolerance for students of his house, but for whatever reason it was a good enough show for him. He nodded, all business again, at least ninety percent of which had nothing to do with her, it seemed. Which was at least one good thing to come from this horrible, horrible.. talk? Decree? Hah, inquisition, clearly, complete with insanely cruel and disproportionate punishment.

Nobody is prepared for Professor Snape, Riko concluded resignedly. It had to be a thing, like Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, which.. did fit, to a tee. Bloody hell, so far exactly none of her talks with her head of house had gone in any way that could be expected, so she really didn’t know what she’d.. err.. expected. Sigh.

Well, for one, she hadn’t expected to be treated to a full-blown inquisition (sigh) before breakfast. It was just not.. fair (sigh, what had she been thinking using, even thinking that word? In that context? Well, in any context, but especially in any context related to anything here or him?). But as it was, and even if it was after official breakfast time, Riko hadn’t had breakfast yet, hadn’t even been Pomfrey-checked, at least not while awake, and it was just.. unexpected, alright?

Excruciatingly embarrassing, too, of course, ugh, especially recalling her full descent into madness in the corridor. _Especially_ considering the raging shit show Muggle Britain kept turning into. Not that Professor Snape looked to give a flying fuck either way, already striding off in the direction of the partitioned-off area where, ah, where Madam Pomfrey had to be working with or rather on the Inconceivable Lockhart, because, well, that man definitely deserved the title. He didn’t even come back to her bed, not that she wanted him to, thank you very much, if that was to be all her exposure to him for the rest of the year she’d call it good enough, gods, she had things to do, the less time and energy needed to assure him all was well, or at least normal enough to not dig, the better. And how the inconceivable Lockhart had read him so well, too, damn impressive that..

Then Madam Pomfrey descended on her and Riko could relax at least enough to drop out of quicktime and let the mediwitch tut over her mushy head and tetchy reaction to reflex-checking charms. It resulted in a quickly conjured-up breakfast of scrambled eggs and porridge of all things, with lots of lemony-tasting water to wash it all down. Bit of an odd mix, but as exhausted and banged-up as Riko felt, unreasonably so, really, she hadn’t even gotten in a fight, but anyway, as miserable as she felt, she didn’t argue over it. Food was food after all. She also didn’t argue when Madam P told her to lie down again, drifting into a doze and then real sleep in no time at all.

*

When Riko woke up again, she did feel somewhat better, although she was still too woolly in the head to properly plan around the mess she’d got herself into. But first things first, of course, which meant Madam Pomfrey checking her over with numerous charms and ordering rest and better taking-care. It also meant dinner, which was good because Riko was glad for some food, and then Cueverdas appeared to see her cleared and released.

Well, more like the asp appeared and guarded her down to the lair. She was subtly exasperated, mostly visible in her interactions with Madam P, either by the job of herding Riko, or the rumours Professor Snape had mentioned, or just the entire stupid year. Or maybe all of those and then some; Riko thought she’d overheard something about the poised girl getting into it with some seventh-year Ravenclaw..?

She wasn’t any kind of short-tempered though, and the way she made sure to step up visibly whenever anyone came close, hovering like a protective detail and shooting sharp looks at passing students who took note of them, was reassuring. So was the very general talk she provided, clearly to show a genial conversation to whoever might be watching and draw conclusions about prefects dragging second-years to their lair versus more amiable versions thereof.

“We’ll go back to the old nightly wards on the doors of the dormitories for the rest of the year,” she said, after demonstrating the new password (Asculum) and then discharged Riko into the common room with a friendly squeeze on the shoulder.

And with this neat stack of layers Riko’s course for the rest of the end of the year began to assemble in earnest. It had been a warning, of course, made of exasperation and duty and tolerance, to keep her within accepted boundaries, recommending proper show of obeisance yet also acknowledging the theoretical possibilities of said boundaries being circumvent, if only done discreetly. The included heads-up also informed Riko of a multitude of factors she had, ironically, completely overlooked in all her paranoia.

Any wards (of course there’d been wards, with their house suspected to that degree) had of course not triggered on any of Riko’s exits, as she’d either left straight into the lake or slipped out as a shadow, as it was safest and fastest. Which meant one more flag for her head-of-house, fantastic. She’d have to ask Blaise if he could find out from his cousin what wards had been used before now..

For now Cueverdas sitting down very obviously beside her year’s co-prefect assured Riko the two were agreed on the matter, and the 5 th  year and 7  th  years were still inundated with OWLs and NEWTs respectively anyway. The prefects timing was a further kindness: it was still dinnertime as far as the Great Hall went, so there weren’t many people around right now, allowing her a relatively dignified and uninterrupted retreat.

Cora was in her open cage and Riko managed to finish her summary of events, consequences, and plans (as applicable) and send it off for Vi, first in line because closest, before her roommates returned, most notably of course Tony, mistress of rumours. Then it took quite some work and concessions to be informed of the ominous rumours regarding yesterdays.. mess, but it ended with the horned rattlesnake ready to spread back her clearly superior stories, so that was alright.

If you only looked at that, that being the rumour situation, but, hah, only then, really. Because for some completely _inconceivable_ reason Tony was _worried._ As in _for_ her, not about, or regarding, no, _for_ , as in for _her_ , Riko. Worried as in _had_ worried, for days, maybe weeks, and without Riko realizing, and was apparently _still_ not finished with it. And, being Tony, she was of course not happy about it, downright pissy, and also wasn’t going to go anywhere _near_ admitting it even remotely. Which, with the cueroscope, ironically gave Riko the explanation and proof necessary to believe this utterly insane development.

Postponing the digesting of this, and the can of Pandora worms it would open, was only smart, Riko told herself, and buckled down on being as perfectly alright as was humanly conceivable and possible in her current situation of decreed surveillance doom and general and surreal mess. She couldn’t even be sure Tony hadn’t infected Draco. It would make, heck, it _made_ very little sense, they hadn’t been terribly worried last year (right?) and she’d almost _died_ at the time, and been in the hospital wing for _days_. But maybe that was because she’d _been_ in the hospital wing and they hadn’t seen her, and maybe she should’ve paid more attention to their exact questions back then instead of assuming, damnit..

As was, back in the now, Draco helped only marginally, which was, well, to be expected. The reasons for it were not, but fit right in with Tony’s spontaneous madness. Apparently Tony had kept, or meant to keep, her worry from Draco, who was mostly acting like this had indeed worked just fine, but only mostly. And that was the thing with their cobra: he was, often, as obviously expansive (and yes, you could also take the almost-homophone there) and proud of it as his father. But then, when you least expected it, he went and was so completely _un_ perceivable and informed in his managing that you’d never, not in a million years, think he did anything at all.

Except he clearly did, in this case, but you really only realized when you already knew, and even _then_ it wasn’t clear what _exactly_ he did. Riko wasn’t even sure if he was aware of it or just used behaviour watched and thus ingrained from his mother, because that’s what it reminded her of. Lady Narcissa did dislike fuss, and under the cover of his cobra behaviour he did help drag everything towards normal.

Even so, the last two weeks of the term were very tiresome. For one, even with Tony, her minions, _and_ Draco (once he’d been given time to properly quiz her to his heart’s content) the rumours from her stupid temper took over a week to die down. It didn’t help that Gryffindors in general and Weasleys in particular were utterly unable to be poised or discreet about any mention of it. Ginny was liable to hex first and yell next, though she did develop a very artful, even respectable, huff after a while. Ronald could be expected to start a rant, the twins to take the piss out of you, and Percy to descend into pompous rambling. None of which was very quiet or conductive to let anyone just forget all this crap already! Honestly, it was plain crazy, what people would come up with.

Various shapes and theories of love-triangles, of all things, involving Riko, Ginny, and Saint Potter, even Amy and Ronald, of all people. The absurdity never failed to boggle her mind. Then of course all sorts of sinister content about the Slytherin monster and Ginny’s abduction, and Riko’s supposedly attacking them or being attacked and chased out of the Great Hall by Potter and/or Ginny. It was just insane. At least her embarrassing break-down in the dungeons had, while also conjuring various outlandish rumours, not much content from her actual words - the upside of corridors amplifying sounds being the echoing effect that rendered most of it near incomprehensible.

Riko was of two minds about that. On the one hand, people not being privy to any of her real, actual thoughts and motives was a very good thing. On the other though, she really would have liked for people to get nudged to at least think a little bit about what happened, instead of their blind praise of Saint Potter Living Again.

But although they were very curious about what she decided to tell and let be inferred, even Tony and Draco were loath to mention, much less talk about or spread anything regarding Tom bloody Voldemort Riddle. It was just not done, Riko understood, especially with the connection to the Slytherin name and line, and this year’s crass re-emergence of the old anti-Slytherin-resentments back from Voldemort’s last war, and the whole matter of blood-related issues and cultural war and so on. It was simply a matter not discussed, heck, they hardly wanted to hear Voldemort’s former name, much less anything about the man himself. And of course their families had been right in the middle of this entire mess, so Riko hadn’t expected they’d want to stick out any limbs for her in that warren of glass-houses and wild bludgers.

Not that Riko gave a solitary fragment of a fuck about that. Within the first day she was ready to tear her hair out, just from being constantly surrounded by people and not allowed to fade out, always in view of at least one housemate and of course completely, obviously _fine_. Embarrassingly it was Tony who pointed out a viable solution, leaving Riko in her debt in that tolerant, amused way she liked so much.

“Oh stop griping,” she’d said, pitying hilarity in her tone while Riko was silently freaking out on her bed, hands buried in her hair and tugging at it, seriously contemplating the idea of just trying for some release of tension by yanking harder and harder and harder..

“How about you ask your Nott,” she’d raised a gently mocking eyebrow, “or do you want to keep him in your debt forever?”

And, well, wasn’t that Tony in a nutshell. Riko hadn’t discussed the terms of her taking Theo as her protégée with anyone, and she was sure Theo hadn’t either. Heck, she’d actually forgotten about that supposed debt, once they’d solved their heir-related mess. Then Riko didn’t manage to hide her face quickly enough in her hands, and as a result Tony knew _that_ as well now, gods and spirits. She only laughed and rolled her eyes fondly, as if Riko was just such a cute little fool. Which, well, Riko couldn’t exactly argue at that specific point at that time.

She could cite extenuating circumstances, however, and did so expansively, extensively, and it was good fun for all concerned. And as of next day – Riko had approached Theo quite apologetically and received a fondly exasperated but, more immediately important, positive reply – everything went much better.

Of course, even with that loop-hole, and Loki’s snake and colt and pup, Riko wasn’t even sure if Professor Snape maybe had expected, even counted on it, but anyway, even _so_ she had two very busy weeks of end-of-year clean-up. For one, eve with all Untouchables working together, it took quite some work, the nightly flights to empty the hidden chambers of Slytherin, storing all they could lay hands on in the round antechamber of Gryffindor’s Gloria. The room extended to fit it’s contents, which did end up including the terrible magical shield of a magically bound griffin. It had, for maximum ouch, been in the study, where she’d read the book.. the _journal_ , alright..

Anyway, that took quite some work, including but not limited to Vi and Edie emptying their extended trunks to be used for transport. Lessons continued too, and of course Riko couldn’t be overly tired any more, which meant she had to nap somewhere else, out of sight or in socially accepted ways, always with at least Theo along, who in turn had to properly use the excuse of ‘a favour owed to my sponsor’ as Riko did want to hang out with at least Vi or Edie. Amy had enough to deal with, what with her housemates’ loud behaviour, to not make it a good idea to be seen, or not-seen, in the company of two Slytherins.

Plus, Riko felt a certain obligation to Theo and his standing in this, obligingly helpful as he was in letting everyone see how clearly alright and focused and nothing-to-worry-about she was, even if he had to interact with Draco and Tony and their various hangers-on. Being known to be equally peaceful in the company of their year’s most renown muggleborn mane didn’t strike her as a good idea for him, even with his debt known. It was enough already to drag him along to visit Hagrid, who was at last cleared of all charges now. It was truly the one good thing to come out of this year, since he was now allowed to buy a wand and catch up on what he’d missed all those years.

Of course there was only so much conversation possible, with Theo along, but Riko went away from it much relieved. For one, she was hopeful Hagrid wouldn’t ask her head-of-house about her again in any public place. And it was nice enough, to settle on the lawn and have Theo and her friends either read quietly or discuss safe, academic subjects while she rested her eyes. She knew they had her back, after all, and she wasn’t going to let that go to waste, nor the rest of the pleasant set-up, the clean-up of the situation at long last taking effect, however slowly. She couldn’t even mind Theo’s later teasing about her drooling on Drake’s bag, which Vi had apparently vanished without letting her see.

Overall, the two weeks of end-of-year passed much faster than last year, what with her needing to write to Fhuuzhako regarding her newest project, and then she had a few simply fantastic ideas for her holiday plans, not to mention the matter of Vi and her family, and the catching-up she had to do in regards of listening, and planning, and of course evading Saint Potter and any and all of the Weasley clan. _And_ in the interest of appeasing Tony’s worries, and her temper on account of her worries, unfounded and baffling as they were, Riko had to properly interact and be present in all meanings of the word, and thus catch up on what she’d missed during her research-binge and just _manage_ the usual game of being light, easy-going company, which was at least as exhausting as hauling around ancient books and artefacts all night. Never mind the oblique observation from the prefects.

At least that could be escaped to either dormitory of her year, where it was also less trouble to listen to any MC the currently present could agree on, be it her quick folk tunes or any other. There were lots of lively variants of pre-separation musicians, Tony had lots of Purcell and Draco some Bach, Blaise and the Sorrentinos liked their variants of the Allegri Brother’s works, and wasn’t it just great how this was a subject Riko still knew so very little of, haha, just great, one more to-be-researched-later subject..

The Untouchables had initially hoped to do some research on animagi, but that was a straight up bust, what with all that was going on. They were all tired, practically asleep on their feet, when it was time to head for the coaches, again drawn by the thin black reptilian horse-creatures, and only too glad to catch some shut-eye in their compartment after obscuring it. Then, suddenly, they were busy trying to finalize their attempts at planning their holidays and potential visits, and then Riko had to wave a distracted goodbye to her friends and look for Draco, though Cora deigned to be helpful with that.

Last she saw of them, Amy was excitedly getting her three books signed by the real Captain Finnegan, honest muggle extraordinaire, while Edie was waiting her turn and also receiving hugs all around from her family. Riko shared a look with Vi that was also a salute, and then they headed towards their respective duties, not even standing that far apart on the platform as it turned out. At least, Riko thought drily, she had only two weeks of it, and easier duty, too, compared to her friend, and she was definitely better prepared than last time. But she’d got to help her friend out pre-emptively, this year, at least a little bit, so chances were it’d go better for all relevant parties, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, so much for that.. ^^  
> I don´t know yet when I can start putting the third year on here.. it´s written but not properly reviewed/edited, and I do have that itch of wanting to properly start with year 4 at last, like I wanted to for about a year now? and rl does not in fact get less busy, and, yeah..  
> still, whosoever reads this, I hope you get something from it, and I would love any kind of comment and I WILL post year3 asap, so.. there´s that-all I suppose =)


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